Every Cloud
by LouBlue
Summary: EJami fic. Sequel to "Patience is a Virtue..." & picks up where that story left off. A wedding is being planned but a dramatic turn of events threatens EJ & Sami's future together in the worst possible way. Will EJ & Uncle John be able to save the day?
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE****: **Okay, before you read this fic you really need to have read the first installment in the series "Patience is a Virtue…" So head back over and check it out if you haven't okay and then you can come back here. LOL

This story picks up more or less where PIAV ends off and again blends romance, humour, drama and angst. There are still quite a few things to resolve hence the need for this fic and the one that I will be posting after this "Wild Horses…" I really enjoyed writing this fic, particularly as Uncle John continued to steal the show on more than one occasion. LOL I love that guy, he's just so much fun to write for and he and EJ end up getting a lot closer in this installment – closer than EJ probably ever wanted to be but for all of John's quirky ways he does still manage to come through when the chips are down.

So I hope you enjoy this one, from memory it's about 28 chapters long so nudge me and I'll try and post updates as regularly as I can. And as always, have fun with it and feedback is always welcome. 

**Chapter ONE**

"What am I doing wrong?" Sami asked EJ unhappily, looking at the little white ball only a couple of feet from where she was standing, golf club in hand and then back at him.

They were down at the bottom of the expansive DiMera mansion gardens, a clump of trees between them and the big house and a clear unrestricted view of some sloping green hills - perfect for a little driving practice.

EJ blew out a breath of air and pursed his lips, uncrossing one of his arms from in front of his chest and tapping a finger to his chin, his expression one of contemplative thought.

"Well!" she pushed him when he didn't speak for a long minute.

"Wait," he told her, his face serious, "I'm making a list in my head."

"EJ!" she groaned, annoyed at how amusing he was finding her attempts to learn golf.

"Don't rush me," he said, holding up a hand, "It's a long list; I may have to get pen and paper."

"You and your lists - you're going to have to get bandages and painkillers if you don't stop enjoying this so much!" she threatened him, "Just tell me what I'm doing wrong so I can do this already!"

"Well lack of any measurable upper body strength is a given of course," he began what was clearly going to be an extensive list.

"You leave my upper body out of this!" she warned him, "Your stupid clubs are just too long and heavy – do you have any smaller ones, like for beginners or something?"

"Well it's not that late, I could rush over to Toys 'R Us and see if they have anything," he deadpanned which earned him a withering look.

"You are _so_ lucky that I can't get this thing to hit balls where I want right now," Sami told him, "Otherwise you'd be a dead man!"

"Yup," he agreed very seriously, "With the force you've got going behind those babies there is a very real chance that it might break skin… and by that I mean of course if I tripped over one of them on the ground and hit a rock or something when I land."

"If you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem EJ," Sami reminded him sweetly, more annoyed at herself than him for not being better at this but he was an easier target for her ire, "Seriously, we've been at it for ages, why can't I do this? Maybe there is something wrong with your equipment."

EJ arched an offended eyebrow at even the suggestion which made Sami finally smile - boys and their toys, didn't matter how old they were - nothing ever changed.

"Well I don't know Mrs DiMera," he said coolly, still feigning indignation at her dig, "Let's see shall we?"

EJ held out his hand and she passed him the club he'd chosen for her to use. He immediately place a little white ball on the tee in the ground and with perfect form, lined up his shot and in one sweeping action hit the ball far off into the distance. The whole thing had been one fluid motion and Sami hated how easy he made it look, now that she knew better. It was why she'd ask him to teach her actually, sure that it wouldn't be that hard but as it turns out, it was a lot more technical than he made it look.

"Nope," he said straight faced, "Not the equipment - guess again."

"I can't believe how hard this is!" she groaned, "What is wrong with me, why can't I get it?"

"It's all technique sweetheart," he reassured her, "Let's start at the beginning again - you'll get it."

"I just want to be able to do this already!" she said in annoyance, "So I can rub Nicole's face in it when I whoop her bony butt tomorrow."

"I didn't realise that when you accepted her invitation for us to play a round of golf with her and Phillip that you didn't actually know how to play," said EJ mildly, "You might have said."

"And have her thinking that she's better than me at something?!" said Sami snippily, "Over my dead body!"

"Well my darling there is a rather good chance that tomorrow is going to remove all doubt about whom is the better golfer," said EJ dryly, "I've seen her play - she's quite good."

"You didn't tell me that!" yelped Sami.

"You didn't ask sweetheart," said EJ reasonably, "You just went along and took the bait she was dangling."

"I wasn't going to have you and her out on that course alone for two hours," said Sami defiantly.

"Samantha," EJ sighed about the familiar conversation, "I don't know why you insist on being so sensitive about Nicole and I - you can't possibly believe that I have even the slightest interest in that woman after the last three months of our marriage."

"You better not have," growled Sami possessively.

She knew that Nicole's divorce proceedings with Victor were almost final but it couldn't come soon enough for Sami!

"Samantha you are all the woman I need," he said with a teasing smirk, "You're all the woman I can handle. Seriously sweetheart, there are times I don't think I'm even going to be able to get down the stairs to breakfast after a night with you."

"Just remember that when Barbarella is batting those cheap fake eyelashes of her at you," sniffed Sami.

"Oh I remember _everything_ we do together my darling," he said with a wicked smile, "And sometimes at the most inappropriate times I have to say."

"Focus EJ!" she said, giving him her best glare which was only slightly ruined by the upward curve of her lips, "Let's do this already."

"Alright," he sighed regretfully, "Back to it then."

He went and stood facing her as she attempted to line up another shot, giving her instructions as she did. EJ looked to his right to make sure that the area she was hitting towards was still clear. He wasn't exactly sure why he was bothering seeing as the furthest she'd managed to get the ball so far was about twenty feet, habit more than anything else probably.

"Okay," he told her, "Now just lean a little more over the club, you're too far back."

Sami did as he said, concentrating hard.

"A little more."

She complied, redistributing her weight.

"A little more."

"EJ," complained Sami, looking up at him in frustration, "If I lean forward anymore I'll fall over…"

Her words trailed off when she caught sight of him shamelessly looking down the front of her blouse that he'd given himself a very clear view of by getting her to lean so far forward.

"EJ!" she snapped, straightening up, "Stop that! Concentrate will you?!"

"Oh I _am_," he said happily, a lecherous smirk on his face as he managed to tear his eyes away from her cleavage and look at her, "_Very_ hard."

"You're _not_ helping," she groaned at him, trying not to laugh at the mischievous look on his face, "This is serious!"

"Alright, alright," he laughed, holding up a placating hand, "Let's try again shall we?"

Sami blew out an annoyed breath, frustrated with herself for not picking this up quicker before drawing herself up and focusing her mind on what he was telling her.

"Legs shoulder width apart, distribute you weight evenly."

He walked around to come up behind her, standing close as he gave her instructions.

"Knees slightly bent."

He placed his hands on her hips and moved them a little so they were better aligned, his face next to hers as he pressed his lean length up against her from where he was standing behind her and gave his next direction.

"Take a breath, line up the club with the ball a couple of times; take your time, no rush."

She tried to do as he said but just couldn't seem to get the easy motion that he had going on

"This club is too heavy for me," Sami complained through clenched teeth.

"No it's not," he corrected her, "You're just fighting it, you have to go with it more. She has to be coerced gently into what you want her to do so it's one fluid motion, not forced."

Sami turned her head and looked back over her shoulder at where he was just above her, an unimpressed look on her face.

"Would you and the club like a minute alone?" she asked sardonically at how he'd referred to the piece of equipment so lovingly, "I wouldn't want to come between true love."

"Save your energy to swing back the club with those little arms of yours," he told her mockingly, "Don't waste it on the back talk, trust me, you need all the help you can get."

"_You_ need to work on your encouragement skills," she muttered, "They blow."

"The truth hurts," and she felt him shrug behind her.

"So does a knee to the groin," she reminded him sarcastically.

"Just as well I'm behind you then," he said smugly, "And I'm twice your size so I'm pretty confident I can fend off any of your attacks, groin orientated or otherwise."

"You've got to sleep sometime," she said flatly, "Remember that."

"You're kind of scary when you can't do something aren't you?" he said with a chuckle, not at all put off by her threats.

"You have no idea," she agreed with him dryly, "Now help me do this, what comes next?"

"Relax your grip on the club," he told her, pressing himself more fully against her.

Sami felt the hard length of his hot body fitting itself against all of her curves and tried to stop the shudder that ran through her body at the sensation with limited success. As he settled more fully against her she felt something pressed against her that wasn't strictly meant to be there.

"EJ," said Sami, looking back at him suspiciously, "Just what exactly is that I can feel back there? I hope you're not thinking of taking advantage of your position as my teacher to try and do anything inappropriate with me now."

"It's my cell phone Samantha," he said, feigning hurt indignation, "You've got a pretty high opinion of your powers over me if you think me teaching you to play golf is a turn on."

Just then his cell phone rang… in his jacket… which was on the ground… a few feet away from them. Sami looked back at him with a challenging look and he gave her a rueful grin at being found out.

"An opinion well deserved," he growled teasingly, pressing a hot kiss to her neck, his hands sliding around to her stomach and pulling her more tightly back against him.

"EJ!" Sami half groaned, half laughed the complaint but tilting her head to one side to grant him better access anyway, "We _have_ to do this!"

"Oh I completely agree," he said, nipping and licking his way down her neck as his hand pushed up under her blouse and immediately cupped her lace covered breasts, "Couldn't agree more in fact."

"The golf EJ," said Sami breathlessly, feeling her knees go to jelly, "I meant the golf."

"This is just my patented method for getting people to relax so they can play better golf Samantha," he purred against her neck, his hands squeezing her breasts now, "I do it for all the people I teach golf to. Nicole didn't seem to mind."

Sami gave an outraged gasp and wriggled out of his grasp and elbowed him hard in the stomach, whirling around and glaring at him angrily.

"Ouch," grunted EJ laughingly, grabbing his stomach where she'd hit him and looking at her teasingly, "What's the matter sweetheart?"

"You are such a dead man!" she threatened him through narrowed eyes, "Don't you even joke about you and that troll Nicole!"

"Or what will you do hmm?" he baited her, arching an eyebrow at her teasingly.

"What will I do?" asked Sami, raising to the challenge and walking towards him, "I guess I'm just going to have to lift my game a little."

"Lift your game eh sweetheart?" he repeated, intrigued.

"Well clearly if you've got enough strength to be teasing me about Nicole I must not be fulfilling all my… 'wifely' duties… to your satisfaction," she said straight faced, "And I suppose like a good little wife that I am I should really do something about that."

"Well," said EJ, watching her advance on him slowly, through hooded eyes, "I've always admired the perfectionist in you darling."

"Mm," she murmured sexily, "Take that shirt for example, there's a dirty mark on the sleeve, you'd better take it off so I can make sure it gets washed properly for you."

EJ smirked and ripped the garment off over his head and handed it to her.

"And you know, those jeans," she said with a regretful tut, "Grass stains on the back there - guess they're going to have to go too."

EJ's grinned widened, happily acquiescing and undoing his jeans, dropping them to the ground before handing them to her as well.

"And I guess, while we're at it we may as well do the boxers," she sighed, "May as well do this right. I don't want you to think your wife cuts corners when it comes to how she looks after you know do I?"

EJ happily obliged, handing them to her and then standing there, naked as a jay bird in front of her. Sami's eyes drifted up and down his long, lean length, taking in every beautiful naked inch of him. He stared back and quirked an inviting eyebrow, a sexy smile on his lips.

"Well I'm just going to put a wash on," said Sami blithely, taking a step back, "Why don't you wait here, I'll be back in about an hour or so."

She shot him a triumphant look and turned on her heel, intent on leaving him stranded there but EJ was too quick for her. Sami had fully intended to make a run for the house then but had only managed to take a couple of steps before she felt an arm circling her waist. Damn, she always forgot just how long his arms were!

"EJ!" she protested with a laugh as she tried to break free, "I'm just trying to be a good wife for you."

"Evil little minx!" he growled teasingly in her ear, not letting her go, "Where do you think you're going!"

"I'm just trying to make sure my husband is satisfied with me," she laughed out loud now, still squirming against him trying to break free.

"Oh I plan on being very satisfied in a few more minutes," he told her as he spun her around and trapped her against his body.

"A few minutes huh?" she laughed up at him, "Hardly seems worth it really."

"Oh don't you worry Mrs DiMera," said EJ, looking smugly down at her, "I'll make it worth it."

"Big talk from the naked guy," she mocked him with a glint in her eye.

"Speaking of which," said EJ smoothly, hands going to her blouse and starting to undo buttons, "One of us seems a little overdressed for the occasion."

It seemed to Sami that it took him only a couple of seconds and she was as naked as he was, her head spinning at his efficiency.

"You're getting pretty good at that," she told him with a sly smile, looking down at him as he knelt before her, removing the last of her underwear.

"I should be," he smirked, straightening it up, "I practice it in my sleep."

"Well that certainly might explain why it is you wake up in the mornings the way you do," she said cheekily.

"I haven't heard you complaining yet," he told her with an answering smirk.

"EJ," said Sami calmly.

"Yes Samantha," he returned just as evenly.

"You talk too much," she told him straight faced, "You might want to do something about that."

EJ grabbed her then, sweeping her off her feet and Sami gasped as he laid her down on their clothes that were strewn about. He instantly covered her body with his and captured her mouth in a heated kiss.

"Like that?" he asked her huskily when he had to stop to let them both breathe.

"Something like that," she agreed unevenly, "But I was thinking more along the lines of this…"

Sami pushed against his shoulders, turning them over so she was on top.

"That works," muttered EJ, enjoying the sight of her above him.

Sami straddled him but kept herself just above him, she leant down and kissed him, a hand reaching between their bodies and encircling his already rigid member.

"You are _so_ easy," she purred against his lips, her hand starting to move up and down his length.

EJ gave a little groan at the sensation, wondering if he'd ever be able to get enough of this woman. She released him, putting her hands on either side of his shoulders, rubbing her breasts against him whilst positioning his swollen hardness at her opening. She rubbed herself against him, letting him feel how hot and wet she was for him.

"Samantha!" he moaned, grabbing her hips and trying to drag her down on him but she resisted.

Instead she moved her hips back and forth, letting his tip move along her folds but not where he really needed to be. EJ began to squirm under her, feeling the need to be inside her reaching a desperate level.

"Now," said Sami huskily, seeing his growing frustration, "Tell me EJ, who do you want touching you?"

"You," he gasped, "I only want you, please god Samantha, I can't take this!"

He pulled harder on her hips and she felt him try to flip her over so he could have better control but she fought him, maintaining their position.

"You're mine," she purred possessively, "Never forget that EJ DiMera."

With that she finally sank down on him, impaling herself on his hardness and at the same time bit into his shoulder hard, her teeth breaking skin as though marking her territory. EJ cried out and bucked up, caught between the pleasure of her tight heat finally encasing him completely and the sharp shock of pain at his shoulder. Sami lifted herself off him again and he made a complaining noise in the back of his throat, desperate for her to return to him.

She kept the pace too slow, deliberately so and EJ couldn't stand it as she punished him with her body. He needed to come so badly but she wasn't letting him, building up the tension only to let it slip away again, and denying him his release. He knew he was becoming incoherent, the noises he were making no longer even vaguely recognisable as human but still she toyed with him.

EJ opened the eyes he'd squeezed shut against the exquisite delight of being inside her, seeing her above him, her own eyes closed, bottom lip caught between her teeth as she pleasured herself with his body. Her breasts bounced back and forth with each penetration and he became fixated on them wishing he could relinquish the hold he had on her hips to touch them but frightened she'd go even slower if he wasn't' there to prompt her. He was in agony and he began desperately thrusting up against her, needing to increase the friction between their bodies and end his torment.

"Do you want to come EJ?" she breathed unevenly, seeing his pleasure soaked suffering even as her own body cried for its own release.

"So much!" he moaned almost mad for it now, "Please Samantha, harder, oh god, go harder!"

Sami decided they'd both suffered enough at that point, quickening her pace and starting to ride him in earnest now, sinking down on him harder and faster each time, building the friction between their bodies to a point of no return.

"EJ!" she gasped, feeling herself begin to tumble over the edge, her body clenching wildly around his, urging him to join her but he was too worked up now, his body in almost a frenzy and he couldn't seem to get himself to fall over that edge.

Sami finished her orgasm and climbed off him, much to his horror.

"NO!" he moaned, needing her to stay there but he needn't have worried she had other plans for him.

Sami moved down his body, kissing her way down to his stomach until she was at his quivering member. She wrapped her hands around its painfully engorged width and pumped up and down a couple of times before taking him into her mouth as far as it could go.

"Bloody hell!" screamed EJ ecstatically, bucking up under her, his heels digging into the ground at the sensation of her practically swallowing him whole.

She worked on him mercilessly and EJ knew he must be screaming his head off but simply didn't care, needing her to keep going otherwise he was certainly going to die. Her clever mouth worked on him until just before he lost the last strands of his sanity he came for her, exploding in her mouth as she sucked him dry eagerly. When she was finally done with him he was a limp doll lying on the ground, unable to move or even speak. Sami kissed her way up his body until she was looking down at him with satisfaction, taking in the overwhelmed but finally sated expression on his face.

"So," she teased him with a knowing smile on her face, "Did I fulfil my 'wifely duties' EJ. I hope everything was to your satisfaction."

EJ groaned at her teasing, dragging her down on him and rolling them over, so that they were both on the ground now, lying on their sides and facing each other. EJ pulled her closer to him, not wanting to lose contact with her.

"You are going to be the death of me," he complained happily, his breathing still uneven after what she put him through.

"You're not getting out of this marriage that easily," she teased him, "Remember that."

"Oh god I want to spend the rest of my life right here," he groaned, kissing her neck, "Just like this."

"Well I guess that will make tomorrow's golf game pretty interesting," laughed Sami, feeling his hands move down to cup her bottom cheeks.

Her own words reminded her about the upcoming game and she felt a flash of anxiety about it.

"Why did you let me agree to do this?" groaned Sami unhappily, dreading tomorrow now that it was apparent that she was never going to master this game, "What was I thinking?"

"I think you're exact words to Nicole were that you were going show her skanky, worthless, disease ridden butt who was boss when it came to playing games," said EJ and she could feel his smile against her shoulder.

"Those weren't my _exact_ words," said Sami sulkily.

"Well no," conceded EJ with a little chuckle, squeezing her butt cheeks, "I had to clean it up a little - I like to kiss my children goodnight with these lips after all."

"Well," sighed Sami, ignoring his teasing, "We've got another half hour or so before the twins wake up; I guess we should keep going."

"Sounds like a plan to me," he said agreeably.

"Did you see where I dropped my club?" asked Sami rolling over onto her back and propping herself up on her elbows, looking around them.

"Oh right, you mean with the golf," said EJ and gave a regretful sigh, "I suppose we could do that too."

"You're incorrigible," said Sami with a little laugh and shaking her head at him and then gave a despondent groan, "I'm going to make a fool of myself out there tomorrow aren't I?"

"It's alright," he told her reassuringly, "I have a strategy."

"You… you do?" said Sami, looking over at him and sounding relieved, "What is it?"

"I'm going to pray for rain," EJ said straight faced, "And if you have any sense I suggest you do the same."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter TWO**

"I wonder how Sami and EJ are doing with their golf game today?" Marlena mused idly, taking a sip of water.

"They're playing golf today?" asked John in surprise.

"Yes John," said Marlena with a roll of her eyes, "What did you think Sami was doing out in the gardens for the last couple of days."

"Digging a hole?" suggested John stoically, remembering all the flying dirt he'd seen when he'd walked by one time when she and EJ were out there.

"With a golf club?" asked Marlena skeptically.

"Yeah," agreed John flatly, "It seemed weird to me too but she's a quirky kid."

Just then there was the sound of someone at the front door and a minute later EJ and Sami were walking into the kitchen, EJ with two golf bags slung over his shoulder.

"You're back!" exclaimed Marlena, looking at her watch, "And so soon."

"We won!" announced Sami triumphantly, a giant grin on her face.

"You… you won?" said her mother skeptically, she'd seen her daughter's golf ability and found that hard to imagine.

"I don't know if you can call it winning sweetheart when we didn't finish the game," said EJ wryly, putting down the bags in the corner.

"I say the person who didn't end up in the back of an ambulance is the winner," she replied happily, "Therefore - I won."

"Someone ended up in an ambulance?" asked Marlena with growing dread - what had her daughter done now, "Who?"

"Nicole," supplied EJ as Sami walked over to the fridge and opened the door, looking for something to snack on.

"Is she alright?" asked Marlena in concern.

"Who cares?" snorted Sami from behind the open fridge door.

"She's fine," replied EJ with a little smile at his wife's obvious disdain for the woman, "It was just a bit of a bruise."

"Sami!" said her mother in horror, "Tell me you didn't hit Nicole with a golf club."

"Actually Marlena," said EJ smoothly, quirking an amused eyebrow, "That was my main concern as well and I was on the lookout for that but no, Samantha didn't hit Nicole with a golf club."

"It was better than that," proclaimed Sami smugly, closing the fridge door, juice bottle in hand.

"It was quite spectacular," agreed EJ with a rueful nod.

"She ran her down with the golf buggy," suggested John with interest - he always enjoyed hearing about Sami hurting someone - it was possibly a character flaw of his.

"EJ wouldn't let us have one," pouted Sami sulkily.

"For that very reason," said EJ wryly.

"Tried to drown her in the water trap?" offered up John hopefully - damn, he would have liked to see that!

"We hadn't gotten that far yet," said Sami.

"Spiked her drinking vater?" suggested Rolf, joining in from where he was preparing dinner, "With ze mind controlling drug perhapz and zen get her to drive her car into ze wall?"

There was a loud silence as the other three adults in room turned to stare at Rolf with varying degrees of horror, except for John who seemed to be actually thinking about his suggestion.

"I _cannot_ believe we let this guy prepare our food," muttered Sami, shaking her head at how truly scary this man could be sometime.

"It does seem a little short sighted of us," EJ mused stoically.

"So what happened to Nicole then?" asked Marlena, determinedly getting the topic back on track.

"It was a thing of beauty," sighed Sami.

"It was something you don't see every day," agreed EJ, "The afternoon had started a little… unevenly."

Sami had barely been able to hit the ball and Nicole had taunted her relentlessly, Phillip and EJ had tried to keep them distracted and apart but by about twenty minutes into the game it became clear that this was not going to end well.

"We were over by the trees and Samantha was preparing to chip her way out of some greenery and Nicole was being less than helpful with her advice," recalled EJ, remembering Sami's growing anger and frustration, "Samantha actually managed to hit the ball…"

"And the ball hit Nicole?" finished Marlena.

"Not quite," said EJ with a little grimace, "Samantha's ball hit a nearby tree which caused it to hit another tree which in turn seemed to cause a rather large branch to snap, I'd say it must have been dead or something to break that easily. Unfortunately Nicole was standing directly under the branch when it came down…"

"And she caught it with her face!" finished off Sami triumphantly, "It was frickin' hilarious Mom!"

"Sami!" chided her mother, "You shouldn't laugh at something like that, it's not right."

"Phillip laughed," protested Sami.

"Phillip is the one person who possibly dislikes Nicole even more than you do," commented EJ dryly.

"I know," said Sami with a smirk, "We kind of bonded over that while you pulled the wicked witch of the west out from under all that foliage."

"Schadenfreuden," said Rolf suddenly.

"Did you just sneeze?" asked Sami skeptically.

"It's a German word," said EJ with a smile, German being one of several languages he'd studied before.

"Ya," said Rolf, "It meanz to have ze shameful glee in another perzons mizfortune - schadenfreuden."

"Nicole isn't people," dismissed Sami with another snort, "She's…"

"Alright sweetheart," said EJ quickly, "I think we all well aware your opinions about Nicole by now."

"Nicole is alright though?" asked Marlena, still a little worried.

"She got a bit of a black eye and a couple of scratches but she's fine," EJ reassured her, "The management of the golf course insisted on calling an ambulance simply because it's policy."

"She's threatening to sue me," said Sami, rolling her eyes, "Drama queen much?"

"Well fortunately for us Tiger Woods couldn't replicate that shot," said EJ with a quirk of his lips, "Not even on his best day, so despite your numerous and _very public _threats to wipe the golf course with Nicole and send her home in an ambulance I think we're pretty safe on that front at least."

"Today was a good day," sighed Sami, a faraway look on her face as she remembered the sound Nicole had made when the very large branch had hit her.

"Nicole could have been very seriously hurt," EJ chided her gently, seeing how much pleasure she was taking from the other woman's suffering.

Not that he really minded of course - if something like that had happened to Lucas he'd have been handing out cigars and selling the TV rights!

"My lucks changing but it's not that good yet," said Sami dourly, "I'm going to check on the twins and have a shower."

"I'll be right up," said EJ, "I'll just put away our stuff."

Sami nodded and then happily made her way out the kitchen, whistling away to herself.

"Just as well golf is a non contact sport," observed John expressionlessly, "If you kids had been playing football we'd be having this conversation in a morgue right now."

"The thought had occurred Uncle," agreed EJ wryly, stooping down to pick up the golf bags, "But all in all it could have been a lot worse - no one's dead or in jail so I'm going to take today as a win as well."

EJ gave a little grimace and excused himself from the room. After stowing away their golf gear EJ went up and checked on the twins, resisting the urge to wake them up for a cuddle because they were just so darn cute. They'd be up soon enough but it was still a bit of a struggle. The sound of water running in their ensuite told him where Sami was and he strolled into the now steamy room, stripping off his clothing as he did. Sami didn't turn round as she heard the shower screen slide open behind her, her eyes screwed shut as she shampooed her hair.

"Is that you EJ?" she asked, eyes still closed, shampoo heavily lathered.

"What kind of question is that?" he growled possessively, coming up behind her and wrapping his long arms around her waist, pulling her back against him, "Who else climbs into your shower with you?"

"I don't know," she laughed teasingly, "What day is it?"

"Not funny!" he snarled, feigning annoyance, "Maybe I should teach you the same lesson you taught me yesterday."

EJ crouched behind her, licking his way down her back until he got to her wet, sudsy backside and playfully bit into one luscious butt cheek.

"Ouch!" squeaked Sami, reaching behind herself to slap him, "Stop that you bad boy!"

She felt him give a low chuckle but he continued to nip and lick away at her, undeterred. Sami quickly rinsed the last of the shampoo out of her hair and turned round, looking down at him as he knelt in front of her now.

"So EJ," she said, raising a suggestive eyebrow at him, "While you're down there…"

She trailed off, her eyes inviting him to use his imagination. EJ gave a smirk, more than happy to oblige her unspoken request, especially as she was always such an appreciative recipient to his talents.

"Turn off the water," he instructed her, a glint in his eyes, "This may take awhile and I don't want to waste water."

"Horny and environmentally responsible," she sighed happily, doing as he asked and looking at him teasingly, "You're the complete package aren't you EJ?"

"I do my best," he grinned, moving in closer to her.

EJ ran his hand down the back of one of her legs, still slick from their shower and cupped her calf, lifting her leg and placing it over his shoulder. Sami purred her approval, leaning back against the tiled shower wall, tilting her hips to grant him better access. EJ didn't waste any time, his tongue delving eagerly into her, lapping at the wetness that he found there which had nothing to do with the shower. Sami groaned, one hand reaching above her head to grab hold of the shower head to steady herself whilst the other one clutched at EJ's head, desperate to hold him in place.

"Oh god yes EJ!" she grunted, "That feels so good - don't stop!"

EJ clearly had no intention of stopping, replacing his tongue with two fingers so that her already swelling nub could benefit from his skills and Sami began to moan in earnest now, quickly becoming incoherent under his masterful ministrations. Her screams of ecstasy reverberated off the bathroom walls, bouncing along the pipes, proving why bathrooms have such good acoustics for singing in. John was walking up the stairs to get to his study when the muffled sounds came to them.

"Looks like we've got that cat problem back," said John to himself, not missing a beat and continuing up the stairs.

Later that evening Samantha looked up from the open bridal books she had on her lap and smiled across at her husband. He returned her smile lovingly over the top of the paper work he was working on. Marlena was deeply ensconced in reading her book and John was standing just behind EJ with his usual glass of Scotch in his hand whilst Rolf as was his want, hovered… or was that skulked?

"So do you think it's strange that I want to have another wedding?" she asked EJ with a little smile.

"A little," replied John flatly before EJ could reply, "But you seem to like the things - what number is this… five, six?"

"I was _talking_ to EJ," said Sami flatly, unimpressed by his observations.

"Oh," said John and gave an unapologetic shrug.

"Sweetheart I'd marry you every other Sunday for the rest of my life and be ecstatic doing it," he said with a smile and a wink.

Sami gave him a pleased look at his answer. She looked back down at the books on her lap and then back at EJ.

"You don't mind that I'm doing all the organising with this one do you?" she asked him, it seemed only fair to her seeing as he'd done the last one completely by himself.

"No," said John stoically, "What do I know about weddings anyway?"

"I think Sami was talking to EJ again," Marlena told him, looking up from her book with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh right," mused John, "That probably makes more sense I guess."

Sami shook her head at him, wondering if she'd ever be completely used to his strangeness.

"Darling whatever you plan I'm sure I'll absolutely adore," said EJ affectionately, "All I require for the perfect wedding is to have you there… and possibly something with less of a gun motif thing going on this time round."

"I think that can be arranged," said Sami with a bit of a grimace at the memory.

Marlena moved a little in her chair and went determinedly back to her book.

"Why, because you'll have some kind of metal detector at the door?" asked John with genuine curiosity.

"No!" snapped Sami, "Because people don't want to kill him anymore!"

"Oh," said John looking skeptical, "I still think some kind of check at the door wouldn't be a bad idea."

Sami scowled at him and shook her head, EJ just smiled, long past taking offence at anything his Uncle might say by this stage.

"I'm just so upset that Dad will be out of town on the day," said Sami wistfully, "But they've asked him to speak at that big conference in Switzerland and he'd already said yes before I picked the date."

Sami looked up at John now, who was still standing there, impassively taking another sip from his drink.

"I was wondering," she began, a little hesitantly now, "Seeing as my Dad won't be there… that maybe… maybe you'd like to walk me down the aisle?"

John didn't say anything, just took another sip from his drink, looking off in the distance. Sami rolled her eyes at him when it became obvious that he wasn't going to speak.

"_Now_ I'm talking to you John!" she said in frustration at the man's continued obtuseness.

John looked at her in surprise, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Oh," he said with another shrug, "It's kind of hard to tell - maybe you should tap people on the shoulder before you speak to them, just so they know."

"I'd like to tap you on the shoulder," she muttered under breath and EJ had to try and hide a smile and then more loudly, "So will you do it John, will you walk me down the aisle at my wedding?"

"Remind me again," said John blankly, "What exactly does that entail?"

"You just walk me down the aisle," she said through gritted teeth, "It's not complicated John!"

"I can walk," he announced happily.

"So is that a yes?" Sami asked him, rolling her eyes skyward and praying for patience.

"Sure," he said expressionlessly, "The exercise will be good."

Sami exchanged a worried look with EJ and he just smiled reassuringly at her.

"It's going to be fine," he told her.

"Rolf," said John suddenly and the other man stopped in his tidying up and looked up expectantly at him.

"You're name sounds like a dog barking," he announced flatly, "What's up with that?"

Rolf seemed to think about that for a moment, not sure what to say.

"I don't like it - change it," said John flatly.

"You vant me to change my name?" asked Rolf in consternation.

"Yeah - you can keep the first letter," said John very seriously, "How about Russell or Renaldo or Rhonda."

"Rhonda is a voman's name," protested Rolf with an arched eyebrow.

"You've got the legs to carry it off," replied John unconcerned.

Sami had just been listening to the bizarre conversation and gave a whimper of anxiety - what had she just done including this lunatic in her wedding party? It wasn't like she was renowned for having weddings without a hitch in the first place - why was she tempting fate like this?!

"You know," commented EJ idly, also listening to the exchange going on between his Uncle and the ex crazy scientist, now indentured servant, "There is a good chance that this wedding could be even more interesting than the last."

"EJ?" said Sami weakly, looking at him anxiously.

"Don't worry sweetheart," EJ told her comfortingly, "It will be fine. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter THREE**

EJ was dreaming, a perfect, muscle clenching dream of being encased in a hot, wet heat that moved slowly up and down his aching member. He gave a little whimper in his sleep, determined not to wake up and shatter this ecstasy. The friction increased in his dream, the blood starting to pump more quickly around his body, his heart beat becoming annoying loud in his ears as he fought to stay asleep and continue this bliss. EJ felt himself swell and harden even more, low moans starting to fall from his lips in between uneven panting. The dream continued and he clung to it, needing to find his release before he was woken by his own bodies arousal but it was too much for him.

EJ's eyes fluttered open and gave an annoyed groan that he had to wake and lose this perfect dream. Sleep bleary eyes struggled to focus but even as he did he realised the sensations weren't leaving his body, in fact they were getting more intense. He looked down only to find a blonde head bento over him and he groaned loudly as he realised that the sense of being devoured whole wasn't a dream but a sweet reality.

Still half asleep he had no choice but to give himself over completely to the woman's insistent mouth, feeling her work on him so skillfully that he had no option but to give her what she wanted. EJ gave a loud shout, bucking wildly as he came in her mouth, feeling himself empty himself into her and she didn't release him until he was completely spent. Sami kissed her way up the now sweaty length of her husband's lean stomach until she was looking down at his groggy, contented face.

"Good morning," she said huskily, smiling as he struggled to resurface from the endorphin soaked daze he was in.

"It is _now_," he said unevenly and giving her a very pleased look as he ran his hands over her back lovingly, "And just for the record sweetheart, if you're ever in any doubt… that is my preferred method of being woken every day for the rest of my life."

"Is that right?" said Sami with a little smile, feigning surprise, "Won't you get bored with it if it's every day?"

"Hmm," said EJ, pretending to give it great thought, "You know darling, I really don't think I will."

They smiled at each other and Sami leant down to kiss him, slowly, deeply as though they had all the time in the world - which of course they didn't. This little fact was brought home when the sound of Johnny crying suddenly came over the baby monitor. Sami gave a little sigh, knowing her day was about to officially start. EJ looked over at the monitor and then back at Sami, flipping them over so that she was under him.

"He's not serious yet," EJ informed her, knowing his son's different cries by now, "And I think we have some unfinished business here."

EJ pulled the straps of her black negligee down so he could have free access to her naked breasts, hungrily attaching himself to one peak.

"He's going to wake Ali in a minute," Sami warned him with a groan, arching her back accommodatingly even as she tried to stop him.

"A minute is all I need," said EJ cheekily, relinquishing his prize briefly to look up at her through long lashes, "I'll be in and out in a flash, you won't even know I was there."

Sami laughed out loud at that and he gave an answering low chuckle that reverberated though his chest and then through her as he lay on top of her.

"Wow EJ," she said still laughing, "That's quite the sales pitch you've got there!"

His hands spread out across her stomach, inching lower and she shuddered helplessly under his touch.

"Not to mention false advertising," she said breathlessly, knowing from experience now that he was anything but a hurried lover.

"But is it working anyway?" he asked, wriggling a lecherous eyebrow at her as he began to kiss his way down her naked stomach, following his hands.

Johnny's cries got louder and more insistent and both of the adults groaned.

"Alright," sighed EJ regretfully, "_That's_ more like his serious cry."

"Guess we're going to have to leave it there for the moment," said Sami, just as regretfully.

"Mm," said EJ and then sat up suddenly.

He reached over into the bedside table drawer and rummaged about.

"What are you doing?" she asked laughingly.

"Don't move," he instructed her, before triumphantly pulling out a marking pen, "Aha!"

Sami looked at it in confusion but then EJ gave her a big grin and then promptly pulled the lid off it and returned to her stomach, placing a big letter 'X' on the spot just below her tummy button that he'd been kissing just before Johnny had started to cry in earnest.

"I want to make sure I come back to exactly where I left off," he said smugly, "Marking my place."

Sami couldn't help herself, she just burst out laughing at the cheeky school boy expression he had on his face as he told her what he was doing. She'd never laughed as much as she did with this man, he made her crazy with lust, furious with annoyance and then in the next minute she could be laughing uncontrollably. He made her feel everything at once, all the time and she'd never been so happy or content before in her entire life.

"Come here you crazy man," she said, reaching up and kissing him.

Ali had joined in now and the twins were a symphony of unhappiness, forcing them to break apart.

"I'll go," said EJ reluctantly breaking the kiss and climbing off the bed, "And you…"

He waggled a warning finger at her as he walked to the door.

"_You_ make sure you don't wash that mark off in the shower, you hear me?" he told her, sounding very serious, "We have unfinished business you and I."

Sami lay back on the bed as he left, closing her eyes and wishing she could bottle this feeling of bliss to have for the rest of her life.

Breakfast was the usual flurry of people and flying porridge - a new favourite of the twins.

"I've got a meeting with Chris today," Sami reminded EJ as she spooned some more porridge into Ali's mouth.

About three weeks ago Sami had felt the need to give something back to society. After all she was so happy at the moment it only seemed right to pay a bit of that back and help where she could. Chris Jones was the new PR rep for the hospital, taking up Carrie's old job actually, not that there hadn't been a couple of other people in the job since Carries' day but Chris was the latest one. Sami and Chris had been working on organising some fund raisers for the paediatric unit of the hospital - a cause close to Sami's heart because of her own babies.

The committee Sami had joined was currently heavily into organising a charity auction/dinner dance towards that and Sami had somehow ended up being the main spokes person for and was now working closely with Chris to make it happen. Sami was really enjoying doing something worthwhile with her time although sometimes she thought she might be overstretching things a bit between having two small children, organising a wedding and doing the charity work but she was someone who always loved a challenge.

"But I'll make sure I'm back by two for Lucas' access visit with Ali," she went on.

"That's fine sweetheart," said EJ easily, "I'm sure Lucas and I can find plenty to chat about if you're a little late."

Despite Sami being absolutely certain that her ex-husband had been responsible for having her current husband run down a few months earlier the police had been unable to come to the same conclusion. They eventually found the person who did it, a nobody ex-prisoner down on his luck. He said he'd stolen the car and was just trying to get away and no matter how hard the police pressed him his story didn't change. Just about everyone was convinced that Lucas had set the whole thing up, except Kate of course who wouldn't hear a bad word against her son but there was simply no evidence to support the fact that Lucas had anything to do with it. For once the guy had been smart about it.

Nonetheless EJ had used his law expertise to wrangle it so that all of Lucas' access visits with Ali now had to be supervised. Lucas hated him for it but EJ didn't exactly cry himself to sleep worrying about it. He was going to protect his family - whatever it took. To that end he'd also hired a private investigator to keep tabs on the other man. After all, things were going so well for he and Sami that EJ really didn't want another surprise of the bullet or four wheeled variety. EJ had also taken to always being there during the access visits, mainly because he wanted to keep an eye on his family but the fact that it really upset Lucas was also a definite plus as well.

It was just before two that afternoon when EJ opened the door to Lucas and gave a smile.

"Lucas," he said happily, "How lovely to see you again - the minutes seem like hours since I last saw you."

Lucas just scowled back at him, not in the mood.

"Is my daughter here?" he asked, straight to the point.

"Of course," said EJ, stepping back to let him in, "Do come in, can't have you standing out there all day… you're causing the property values to drop in the neighbourhood."

"You're such a funny guy Elvis," said Lucas sourly, stepping inside, "No really, I don't know how Sami can stand to be around such a hilarious guy."

"She stands it very well," said EJ with a little, smug smile, "Very well indeed I have to say."

Lucas just shook his head and walked into the sitting room to find Ali sitting on the floor on a baby rug, toys scattered about her.

"Hi there little girl," said Lucas, his voice gentle and engaging now.

Ali looked him up and down and then went promptly back to chewing on her teething ring. Undaunted Lucas went and sat beside her whilst EJ took a seat on the sofa just a couple of feet away.

"You don't have to stay," said Lucas through gritted teeth, being careful not to sound too harsh around Ali.

"And miss all of this wonderful father/daughter bonding thing you've got going on?" said EJ in feigned horror, "How can you even suggest such a thing. I'm actually hoping to pick up a few parenting tips just by watching you."

EJ smiled at Lucas and the other man grimaced, adding another thing to hate about EJ DiMera to the already pretty extensive list he had in his head. Lucas looked back at Ali and gave her a warm smile.

"Hey Ali," he said, holding out his hands to her, "How about a cuddle for Daddy?"

Ali screwed up her face, looking at him uncertainly before turning her back on him and attempting to crawl over towards EJ. EJ met her half way, scooping her up in his arms and giving her a kiss.

"Sorry Lucas," he said, almost pulling off apologetic sounding, "But it seems Ali prefers me. Story of your life eh, all the women in your life seem to prefer me. That reminds me - how is Kate these days?"

"You son of a…" snarled Lucas but EJ stopped him with a warning look.

"I'd really prefer that you didn't use profanities in front of my daughter Lucas," said EJ sharply, "After all, one blotch on your copy book from me and these little visits of yours are over."

"She's _not_ your daughter," he hissed, the veins in his neck starting to stand out.

"Possession… nine tenths of the law and all that eh Lucas," said EJ smoothly, "I know that because I'm a lawyer."

"That's all she is to you isn't it?" glared Lucas, looking at Ali in EJ's arm snuggling into the other man's chest, "A possession."

"Oh Lucas," sighed EJ with feigned regret, "If I thought your infantile brain even had the slightest chance of understanding just how it is I really do feel about this perfect little girl I'd give it a shot but it would be a waste of breath wouldn't it? Your own words condemn you. You only see things in terms of possessing and overpowering. That was what you tried to do to Samantha - she overshadowed you in every possible way so you just tried to control her rather than have her show you up for the weak little man you really are. Pathetic really when you think about it. A woman like Samantha needs a real man, not some whiny, clingy Oedipus ridden clot like you. You two were doomed to end before you even started."

EJ suddenly gave an over the top expression of dismay, putting his hand over his mouth.

"Oh my," he said, looking ever so apologetic, "Did I just say that out loud? I don't know whatever has gotten into me these days."

EJ switched Ali to the other hip and clucked sadly.

"Maybe it's because I've been hit by a car recently," he mused thoughtfully, "Or even that gunshot wound I sustained. They say traumatic events like that can have an effect on one psyche - what do you think eh Lucas?

"I think you are one smug, self serving, worthless piece of trash I've ever known," said Lucas, smiling sweetly and using a bright tone for the benefit of Ali.

"No," said EJ, seeming to think on his words for a minute and gave a regretful shake of his head, "My Oedipus clot put down was better… sorry - you really are going to have to work on that. Can't imagine you have too much else to do with your days. How's that job at the factory working out by the way - not too mentally taxing for you I hope? Do you get to take home any of the cardboard boxes that don't quite make the grade?"

"I work in the office," bit out Lucas, his dark eyes cold with hatred for the other man.

"Oh right," said EJ, "So it's paper clips you'd be taking home then?"

Sami appeared at the door and looked nervously between the two men.

"Everything okay?" she asked, walking in and putting a hand on EJ's back and moving it up and down.

"Oh darling, there you are," said EJ happily, "Lucas and I were just having the _best_ talk, weren't we Lucas?"

"Lucas," said Sami, her voice hard and unforgiving.

"Sami," said Lucas, "Good to see you baby."

"Is it?" she asked him in surprise, "Why?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" he asked her, his expression hardening, "You're the mother of my children."

"And you're the guy who tried to kill my husband… twice," she replied tightly.

"When are you going to give that up Sami?" asked Lucas, his voice starting to rise a little in his agitation, "They got the guy who did it and guess what… it wasn't me!"

"They got the guy behind the wheel," corrected Sami in annoyance, "They didn't get the person who set it up."

"You've always did have an active imagination didn't you Sami?" he taunted her with a smirk.

"I guess I must have seeing as I imagined myself in love with you for all those years," she returned bitingly, feeling the familiar distaste she had for this nowadays whenever they shared a room.

"Ooh, good one sweetheart," applauded EJ happily, "I like that one, I'm going off to write that one down to keep for later."

Watching Sami tear into Lucas with such regularity made EJ feel like the whole being hit by a car and undergoing life threatening surgery was completely worth it. Yes, EJ decided, life didn't get much better than this. The rest of the visit was relatively uneventful and soon enough Lucas was out the door and back to whatever he was calling a life these days.

"Well," sighed Sami as EJ walked back in the room after seeing Lucas to the door or rather making sure the other man left, "That's over for another week, thank goodness."

"Oh I don't know," said EJ with a smirk, "I'm rather starting to enjoy Lucas' little visits."

"More than Ali does," said Sami ruefully, seeing the unhappy pout her daughter's face was currently sporting.

"She a young lady of class and taste," said EJ blithely, "Of course she's not going to enjoy spending time with him."

"He's her father EJ," sighed Sami unhappily.

"An accident of biology," said EJ, picking up the little girl and cuddling her to him, banishing away her pouts and replacing them with a toothless grin, "Nothing more."

A knock at the door interrupted their discussion and they looked at each other.

"I'll get it," she offered, "Why don't you take Ali upstairs, she's over due for her sleep, and Johnny's already been asleep for half an hour."

"Fine," nodded EJ with a smile and jiggled Ali up and down in his arms, "Sleepy time for you my princess eh?"

Sami smiled at their interaction and went to answer the door. EJ bent down and picked up a couple of Ali's more favourite toys so she could take them to bed with her and looked up when he heard the sound of an unfamiliar male voice at the door.

"Who's that talking to Mummy eh sweetheart?" he asked Ali but she just gurgled happily, not telling.

EJ walked up to the doorway of the sitting room he and Ali were in and looked through the crack in the open door, interested in who it was.

"Chris!" he heard Sami say in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

What indeed wondered EJ as the other man stepped into his view for the first time. He was blonde haired, blue eyed and quite tall, not as tall as EJ was but then, few people were. The newcomer could be considered good looking EJ thought, if you were into that kind of look which the way Sami was smiling up at him told him she didn't find the other man utterly repellent. EJ wasn't so much concerned with Sami's response to the visitor but rather the way the visitor was looking at his wife. When Sami would look away briefly he'd take his chance to look her up and down thoroughly, a decidedly lascivious look on his face which he quickly masked whenever Sami was looked back at him.

_Oh Hell NO! _- not on his watch thought EJ grimly.

Fixing a pleasant smile on his face, EJ walked out to meet the man who seemed to think nothing of looking at his wife and undressing her with his eyes.

"Oh EJ," said Sami, turning around to see him coming up behind her, "This is Chris Jones, you know, he and I have been working on that upcoming hospital fund raiser together. Chris, this is my husband EJ."

"Chris," said EJ, swapping Ali to his other side so he could offer the other man his hand.

Chris took EJ's offered hand and the two men shook hands. EJ made sure his handshake was just a little harder than the other man's and could see that Chris noticed. It was subtle… it was a guy thing.

"So what brings you to our happy home Chris?" asked EJ smoothly.

"Oh, I just had a folder of phone contacts that I forgot to give Sami in our meeting and I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop in," said Chris with an easy smile, "Hope that isn't a problem."

"Definitely not," said EJ happily, the smile not quite reaching his eyes, "Darling, let Chris in and we can have a drink and all get to know each other a little better."

"Of course," said Sami hastily, stepping back, "Where are my manners, come in, please Chris."

Chris stepped inside and looked around himself with a certain amount of awe.

"Some place you've got here," said Chris in amazement.

"Thanks," said a voice at the top of the stairs, "My half brother is in a coma so I get the keys to the kingdom so to speak."

The three adults and Ali looked up as one.

"Chris Jones," said EJ unfazed, "This is my Uncle - John Black. Uncle John, this is Chris, he's the PR rep at the hospital. He and Samantha are organising a charity ball for later in the month."

John walked down the stairs and walked over to where they were standing.

"Hi," he said flatly, not offering the other man his hand.

"Hi," returned Chris, a little put off by the way the man was looking at him so expressionlessly, "Nice to meet you."

"Is it?" said John in surprise, "Why?"

"Why don't we all have a drink," said Sami quickly, not wanting to expose Chris to all of John's strangeness straight away.

"I'll get them," offered EJ, "Sweetheart, do you mind putting Ali down instead?"

"No," Sami accepted the deal willingly, "I'll be right back."

EJ kissed Ali and handed her to Sami who immediately left to put Ali to bed.

"So what would you like to drink Chris?" asked EJ casually, walking into the living room.

"Whatever you're having will be fine with me," said Chris, following him.

"Scotch it is," said EJ, "Uncle?"

"Sure," replied John, "Why not?"

EJ dispensed the drinks and let everyone take a sip before speaking.

"So Chris," he said EJ, indicating the other man should take a seat and EJ took one across from him when he did, "Have you always worked PR?"

"No," said Chris, "I started off in advertising."

"Advertising," repeated EJ, sounding impressed, "I've always thought that would be an interesting field - trying to convince people to buy things they don't really need. Must have been a real challenge at the time."

"I guess," said Chris tightly, seeing the comment for what it was, a silent criticism, "Sorry AJ, what is it that you do again?"

"I'm a lawyer," said EJ with an almost pleasant smile, "And it's EJ."

"Oh sorry… EJ," said Chris with an equally almost pleasant smile, "A lawyer - guess we can never have too many of those huh?"

"This is a litigious age in which we live," said EJ agreeably, "A sad but true fact."

"You know," said Chris, a fake agreeable smile on his face, "I completely forgot that Sami was married - she never mentions you when we're together."

"Really?" said EJ, pretending to mull that over as he took another sip of his drink, "Well Samantha mentions you all the time but oddly enough the way she talked about you, I just always assumed you were a woman."

Both men gave feigned laughs at the observation, sizing each other up. Both knew exactly what the other one was doing and neither was backing down. John watched with interest the exchange between the two men - never a dull moment in this house he mused.

"Working at the hospital as you do you probably know my sister," said EJ evenly, "Lexie Carver."

"Dr Carver is your sister?" asked Chris in surprise but quickly recovered himself.

"Half sister actually," said EJ with a smile, "But I think of her as full."

Sami returned to the room then and both EJ stood up, Chris quickly following, caught a little off guard by the other mans' old fashion chivalry.

"She crashed," said Sami with a smile.

"I thought she might," said EJ with an answering smile, "Drink sweetheart?"

"No," she sighed, "It I had something to drink I'm just fall asleep where I stand I think."

"My poor darling," said EJ, walking up to her and putting an arm around her, pulling her to his side, kissing the top of her head, "Early to bed for us tonight."

"EJ," laughed Sami protestingly, "You're embarrassing Chris."

"That wasn't my intent sweetheart," said EJ smoothly and the men exchanged looks and Chris knew exactly what EJ's intent was - hands off, she's mine and he gave him a bit of a challenging look back.

Sami meanwhile was oblivious to all this male posturing going on over her head. Just then Marlena walked into the room and another round of introductions were made.

"So, sorry," said Chris, trying to work out the family tree, "You're married?"

Chris indicated Marlena and John as he said that.

"That's what people are telling me," said John stoically.

"But I thought you said that you were his Uncle?" asked Chris, starting to get confused.

"That's right," said EJ, enjoying the other man's puzzlement.

"I'm the bastard off spring of his grandfather and her great aunt," John informed his expressionlessly and nodding at EJ and Sami respectively.

"John!" said Marlena, "Really!"

"What?" said John, "He asked."

"Wow, that's quite the family tree you have there," said Chris slowly.

"You have no idea," agreed EJ sagely, "And that's only the beginning of it."

"Blondie and I won't be here for dinner," John informed them, changing the subject abruptly as was often his want nowadays, "Apparently she's got tickets for a 'show'."

"Oh?" said Sami, hoping to steer things onto more solid ground, "Which one."

"Catz," her mother replied with a smile.

"Cats?" repeated John, looking at her in vague horror, "We're going to see a whole lot of cats on a stage… why?"

"They're people dressed up as cats," explained Marlena patiently, "And they sing - it's a musical."

"So people… dressed up as cats… who sing," repeated John slowly, clearly trying to work it out in his head, "… why?"

"_Such_ a good question Uncle," said EJ, rolling his eyes, he'd never been a fan of that particular stage show.

"It's very popular," said Marlena, "And it's been running for years."

"So has The Jerry Springer Show," said John flatly, "But it doesn't make it right."

EJ stifled a laugh at the observation and Sami nudged him and sent him a warning look.

"How come you remember The Jerry Springer Show and not what a musical is?" asked Sami in frustration.

"Don't know," shrugged John, "I'm just living with the brain damage, you should ask Rolf that question."

"Sorry?" said Chris, struggling to keep up, "Brain damage?"

"I was dead," volunteered John unconcernedly, "But I'm over that now."

"Right," said Chris weakly, "I.. I'm glad to hear that."

"John," admonished Marlena lightly, "I'm sure Chris isn't interested in hearing our family's history. Look, you'll enjoy yourself tonight I promise, just give it a chance. Before your accident you loved going to musicals with me."

John seemed to think about that for a long moment before speaking again.

"I highly doubt that," he said flatly, "I'd say I was just trying to get you in the sack."

EJ had just taken a mouthful of his drink when his Uncle said that and wished he hadn't because he had to swallow it quickly or choke on it.

"John!" Marlena and Sami chorused his name in shock but he seemed undeterred.

"So," said John with great interest, looking at Marlena, "Did it work Blondie?"

"This is an inappropriate topic of discussion John," said Marlena, attempting to slip into therapist mode to try and diffuse the situation, "We'll talk about this later."

"That means yes," said John confidently in a loud whisper to them all.

EJ turned around abruptly, suddenly seeming to need to have a very detailed look at the painting hanging on the wall behind him, only his slightly shaking shoulders betrayed what he was really doing.

"Well," said Marlena, trying to salvage some of her decorum, "I need to make a few phone calls before it gets too late. If you'll all excuse me… Chris, it was lovely to meet you at last."

"Ah you too," said Chris, hastily taking her outstretched hand and shaking it, "Nice to meet you too Dr Evans."

"Please," she smiled, "Marlena."

"Of course," said Chris, still looking a little ruffled, "Marlena."

Marlena included the rest of the room in her smile and calmly walked up stairs as though the last couple of minutes hadn't happened. Sami admired her mother's ability to maintain her dignity under such trying circumstances - she should really get her Mom to show her how she did that. By this stage Sami had resigned herself to the fact that it was a skill that she would probably need for the rest of her life.

"Well," said John, seemingly oblivious to the fuss he'd caused took a sip of his drink, "Guess I'm going to watch a bunch of people in leotards pretending to be cats and singing. Kind of makes me wish I had your cat allergy problem nephew."

EJ turned around at that and saw Sami giving the older man a warning look out of the corner of his eye.

"You have a cat allergy?" asked Chris, thinking he'd at last found a relatively safe topic of conversation.

"And how," said John with an arched of an eyebrow, "You should see the welts that he comes out in - it looks very painful."

"John!" hissed Sami, her cheeks starting to go pink now and she shook her head and glared at him.

"It's nothing," said EJ, trying hard not to smile and invite any of his wife's annoyance his way, "It comes and goes."

Sami looked at him sharply but EJ just smiled innocently back at her.

"Actually animal allergies can be quite life threatening," offered up Chris, a bit mystified by Sami's obvious discomfort about such an innocuous subject, "You should get that checked out."

"There would be worse ways to go," observed John expressionlessly.

"Okay, everyone stop talking _now_!" exclaimed Sami, her cheeks beet red now.

"Is that an option?" asked John in genuine surprise and great interest, "Because Blondie is always telling me I _have_ to talk to people when they're around - apparently it's polite."

"It is if you do it right," bit out Sami, shooting an embarrassed smile at Chris who was looking decidedly bemused by this stage.

"So what?" asked John in confusion, "I'm doing it wrong? How?"

"EJ?" said Sami in exasperation, looking to him for a bit of help.

"I'll explain it to you later Uncle," said EJ, although doubting he'd be able to properly.

The nuances of polite society were still a bit beyond John at the moment and EJ suspected that his Uncle wasn't that interested in learning them anyway.

"I should get going," said Chris suddenly.

"Of course," said Sami hastily, "I'll show you to the door."

"Nice to meet you Chris," said EJ smoothly, holding out his hand for the other man to shake, "I'm sure I'll be seeing you around."

"You too EJ," said Chris, returning the pleasantries with as much sincerity as EJ had, "It's been an education."

"Hasn't it?" agreed EJ readily, an insincere smile on his face, "A real eye opener."

Chris grimaced a smile to both John and EJ before following Sami out of the room.

"There's trouble," commented John astutely.

"Only for him Uncle John," said EJ flatly, "Only for him."

John gave him a thoughtful look and then excused himself, drifting off into the kitchen and leaving EJ alone. Meanwhile Sami showed Chris to the door and gave him an apologetic smile as Chris finally remembered to give her the folder he'd originally stopped by under the pretext of giving them to her.

"I'm sorry," she said, "We're usually not this crazy around here."

She thought about that for a minute and gave a rueful shrug.

"Actually we are," she confessed to him with a sigh, "Sorry."

"I had fun," said Chris with a smile, "Your step Dad is very… entertaining."

"Is that the word we're going to settle on?" asked Sami dryly, "Okay - entertaining it is then but I think you're being a bit kind there Chris."

"So I'll see you tomorrow and we can go over some budget issues for the fund raiser?" asked Chris, looking at her hopefully.

"Of course," said Sami quickly, "As long as you think I'm still a suitable candidate to do this after you've met my family."

"Oh I think you're just perfect," said Chris warmly, giving his best sexy smile.

"Well you don't know me very well yet," said Sami self deprecatingly and rolling her eyes.

"Something I'm hoping to rectify very soon," said Chris tellingly, his voice low but Sami missed the innuendo.

"Great," she said happily, "Well, see you tomorrow Chris… and again… sorry."

Chris smiled at her, a bit taken aback that she seemed to be dismissing him so easily but not put off.

"Tomorrow then?" he said softly.

"Yep," said Sami brightly and closed the door, leaving Chris standing there, halfway through his best seductive look.

"So," smiled Sami, coming up behind EJ and wrapping her arms around him and resting her cheek against his back, "What do you think of Chris - he's great isn't he?"

"He certainly is," said EJ with false enthusiasm which Sami didn't seem to notice.

"Did you two find stuff to talk about when I was gone?" she asked as he turned around and pulled her into his arms, circling her waist.

"We did actually," said EJ thoughtfully, "Turns out we have a common interest."

EJ thought about how the other man had been looking at his wife, recognising that expression instantly. He should after all; he'd seen it every day looking back in the mirror at him since the first time he'd laid eyes on Samantha.

Desire. Want. Hunger.

"Oh," said Sami in surprise, looking up at him enquiringly, "What's that."

"Bird watching," said EJ smoothly, returning her smile.

"You like bird watching?" she repeated sceptically, "Since when?"

"There are still things you don't know about your husband Mrs DiMera," said EJ teasingly.

"So it would seem Mr DiMera," she said with an answering laugh and then gave a groan, resting her cheek on his chest and feeling his arms tighten around her comfortingly.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to look Chris in the eye again after today and John," she complained.

"A problem he seems to share," said EJ grimly, his eyes hardening as he remembered the number of times he'd caught the other man shamelessly checking out Sami's breasts.

He knew he was hardly one to talk but she was his wife and it was his privilege, nay right, to do so! Samantha was his and no one else's, they were his breasts to ogle whenever he wished and he wasn't about to share them with anyone, not after how long it had taken him to get his hands on them. Was that a little crass… probably but it was how he felt. Chris didn't know this yet but he'd chosen the wrong man's woman to go after.

EJ smiled to himself and wondered what Sami would do if she knew what he was thinking about her new 'BFF'. She'd probably hit him and tell him he was being ridiculous. For all her seeming worldliness there was somewhat the child like naiveté about Samantha when it came to her really understanding how desirable a woman she was. EJ blamed the likes of Austin and Lucas for ever making her doubt it - yet another reason to dislike the insipid, insignificant men, not that he needed one.

"What?" said Sami in concern, misinterpreting his comment, "Do you think we embarrassed Chris today? What am I saying, how could we not have?"

"I'm sure Chris will survive sweetheart," said EJ calmly.

_For the time being anyway._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter FOUR**

Later that evening EJ was sitting up in bed, reading a book but not really. What he was really doing was waiting for Sami to join him in bed. She appeared then, walking out from the bathroom, her skin still pink from the steam of the shower. She strolled over to him and smiled.

"Good book?" she asked him.

"Riveting," he said, not taking his eyes off her, "Heart stoppingly so."

"Is that so?" she asked with a little laugh, "Let's see."

She reached out a hand and put it on his bare chest, where EJ's heart was and found it beating an unsteady rhythm. She gave him a knowing look and he answered by throwing the book to the floor and grabbing her, pulling her down onto the bed.

"So what?" she teased him, "Book not that interesting all of a sudden - going to get back to it later?"

"Speaking of getting back to things," purred EJ, slowly pulling up the bottom of her silky negligee and smiling at finding the mark he'd made earlier in the day.

"I am _so_ glad I marked my place," he said, sounding very serious, "Because I would have started here…"

EJ pressed a kiss to a spot just below the cross and Sami bit her lip at the sensation.

"… and that would have meant I missed this…" he kissed her stomach again, exactly on the mark, "… and that would have been unforgivable."

Sami settled back, feeling herself already begin to ache for his next touch. EJ began kissing further down her stomach until he was at her panty line, hooking his fingers through the delicate material and starting to pull them down but she grabbed his wrists.

"You first," she said a little breathlessly.

EJ grinned and before she even had time to blink had shucked his black pyjama bottoms and was moving back to continue where he left off but she stopped him again, pushing him on his back and straddling him. She rocked gently on him and he gave a low groan, already feeling how wet she was for him. Sami pushed her bottom back a little and felt his erection against her bottom cheeks and shook her head and gave a please smile at how easily she could inflame him. She straightened up and slowly pulled the straps of her negligee down, the soft material pooling around her waist. EJ's eyes glassed over as he stared at naked breasts, cupping them in both hands and squeezing them before sitting up and drawing one pink tip into his mouth.

"I'm going to miss you so much," he moaned against her, hungrily nipping at the bud of one breast, making it peak for him, "I don't know how I'm going to stand it."

"Wh… what do you mean?" she asked dazedly, trying to focus on what he said rather than what he was doing.

"I'll tell you later," he groaned, moving to her other breast.

"Wait," she panted, grabbing a handful of hair and making him release her breast, "Tell me what later?"

"It's nothing," he said unevenly, his brown eyes practically black with arousal now.

"Then it won't take a minute," she argued with him.

"I can't concentrate with these…" EJ waved a distracted finger at her breasts, "Very little of my blood is currently circulating in my brain right now sweetheart."

Sami helped him out by pulling the straps of her negligee back up but he was less then appreciative.

"Samantha!" he groaned, flopping back on the bed and gave a petulant pout.

"Sooner you tell me why you're going to miss me the sooner the girls can come out to play again," she teased him and he gave an answering grin.

"I found out today I have to go to New York on Thursday," he told her, massaging her hips now, "I have to take some depositions for Nicole's divorce but I should only be gone two days."

"Oh," said Sami and gave a little pout of her own, "I'll miss you to then."

"Great," said EJ, sitting up and kissing her quickly, his hand's going to her straps again, "That's settled, we'll miss each other - now where were we?"

"But why didn't you want to tell me that?" asked Sami with a slight frown, grabbing his wrists to stop him.

EJ lay back down and gave a grimace.

"Now, don't get upset…" he began reluctantly, "But Nicole is coming with me to New York - it's to do with the depositions."

"Oh," said Sami calmly, "So you're going to be going to be going to New York with Nicole… for two days?"

"That's right," said EJ, not trusting how well she seemed to be taking this, "It's purely business Samantha, I promise you. There is absolutely nothing for you to worry about."

"Of course not," Sami agreed readily… too readily for EJ's liking, "What could I possibly have to worry about?"

She suddenly got off him and lay back down on her side of the bed.

"Well," she said easily, "I bet you've got a lot of things you need to organise before you go - you know, to be prepared for the depositions and no doubt you'll need your rest… so… goodnight."

"Goodnight?" said EJ, looking first at her and then the rather unfortunate state she'd left him in, "Samantha?"

"Goodnight EJ," she said happily, rolling over onto her side, putting her back to him.

EJ looked at her back and shook his head before looking up at the ceiling in frustration. Why couldn't he have kept his mouth shut and told her about New York _after_ they'd made love and not during? What had he been thinking? Now what was he meant to do exactly? He hadn't seen this coming which ironically wasn't the only thing he wasn't going to see coming tonight! EJ grimaced and sat up.

"I'm going to have a shower," he announced to her back.

"Okay," she said evenly, "Have fun."

"Unlikely," he muttered but eased himself painfully off the bed and went anyway.

Sami lay there in the bed, silently fuming to herself as she heard the shower being turned on and the sound of water running.

She knew that he didn't understand - thought that she was just being overly dramatic when it came to Nicole but EJ didn't know the woman like Sami did. Sami also knew from person experience what a determined woman with a bottle of tranquillisers and an aggressive mission statement could achieve if she really put her mind to it and it frightened her. She wasn't worried about EJ cheating willingly but she'd trapped her own share of men in the past and was terrified that it might happen to EJ. She knew EJ wasn't Austin and that he was far more savvy when it came to things like that but Sami knew she wouldn't be able to bear it if Nicole managed to somehow get her hooks into him. Neither one of them slept well that night.

EJ woke the next morning to find Sami's side of the bed empty and the sheets cold. He gave a sigh, stretching out a hand to touch the space where her warm body should be. Guess she was sticking to her guns on the withholding sex thing. He'd kind of hoped that she'd sleep on it and then come to her senses in the morning but it didn't look like that was going to happen. EJ grimaced, thinking how much better yesterday morning was compared to todays. He showered quickly - a cold one - and came down to breakfast to see Sami and John already there with the twins. They both waved excitedly at seeing him and he kissed them both good morning but when he leant in to do the same with Sami she presented him with her cheek instead of her lips as she usually did.

"Good morning sweetheart," said EJ wryly, kissing her cheek regardless.

The smell of her skin was in his nostrils, her soft skin under his lips, making him wish he'd taken a longer shower now as he felt the usual tug of desire whenever he was around her.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked her.

"Fine darling," she said brightly, "And yourself?"

"Like a baby," said EJ sweetly, playing along with her game, "Speaking of which, I didn't hear these two this morning - what time did they get up?"

"Early," said Sami, going back to feeding the twins and studiously avoiding his gaze.

Truth was she'd gotten them up instead of the other way round as was usually the case. Sami had woken up early and had found herself unable to stop staring at the naked, sleeping form of her husband and lusting after him terribly. It had taken all of her will power not to just jump him while he lay sleeping and she knew she needed to get out of there before she gave in completely and ruined her own plan. So she'd gotten up and woken the twins who had looked a bit taken aback by the turn around but were happy enough once they were up.

"Hm," said EJ, with a loving smile at the children, "Hope that doesn't become a habit - I've gotten quite used to them sleeping in."

"Well you'll be able to sleep in plenty while you're away," said Sami snippily.

"I'll be working Samantha," said EJ calmly, not raising to the bait, "I want to get as much done as I can so I don't have to go back."

Sami just shrugged and went back to feeding the twins. John looked between them with interest - clearly something was going on between the two. This was what he'd tried to explain to Blondie last night - why bother going out when there was always a show going on right in front of them every day? Breakfast was quickly over and EJ was out the door to work leaving John and Sami alone, Marlena having left even earlier in the morning already.

"So John" said Sami, starting to clean up the carnage the twins had created with their breakfast and hoping to be distracted by a bit of conversation, "How was last night?"

"Well I didn't get sex," said John, sounding a bit put out.

"John!" exclaimed Sami, her cheeks going pink, "I don't want to hear about that!"

"But you just asked me," protested John in confusion.

"I asked you about your evening!" said Sami in agitation.

"I know and I told you - there was no sex," replied John blankly.

"Can you please stop saying…? S-E-X in front of the twins," hissed Sami, looking over at them gurgling happily away to each other.

"How does spelling it help?" asked John with a frown, "They don't know what the word means whether you say it or spell it - what does it matter?"

"It matters because… because…" stuttered Sami, hating it when he got all logical on her.

John looked at her enquiringly, waiting for her to explain.

"Because it's not something that should be talked about in public!" she finally managed.

"And spelling the word makes it more acceptable?" asked John in confusion, "Why?"

"Can we talk about something else?" asked Sami crossly.

"Sure," said John agreeably, "Did I hear right - is Elvis going out of town?"

"Yes, tomorrow," said Sami sullenly, "To New York."

"Is that a problem?" John asked her, cocking his head to one side when he heard the tension in her voice.

"Of course it's not a problem, why would it be a problem?" snapped Sami, "Can we talk about something else John?"

"Hm, I don't know," mused John, almost to himself, "The list seems to be dwindling as to what we can talk about."

"There is more to talk about then sex and EJ!" said Sami in frustration and then groaned to herself internally, why did she have to put _those_ two words together?!

John leaned in towards her and whispered to her loudly, indicating the twins.

"You didn't spell it," he reminded her, "Apparently that's not polite."

"John," said Sami in frustration, shaking her head at him and attempting a deep, calming breath.

Sami studied her step father openly, wondering what it was that went on inside of that head of his nowadays.

"Got a question you want to ask?" he put to her, seeing the look on her face.

"I was just wondering…" said Sami with a bit of a shrug, "What is it that you think about?"

"All kinds of things," shrugged John.

"Like what?" asked Sami, suddenly curious?

Granted she was probably going to regret asking but maybe if she could understand the man a little better he'd stop catching her off guard quite so much.

"Well," considered John, pausing to think, "I was watching a show on cock fighting last night on the sports channel…"

"Cock fighting?" repeated Sami, screwing her face up in distaste, "You mean that horrible thing where people get chickens to wear spurs and fight each other to the death just so they can bet on it?"

"That's it," agreed John, not seeming as put off by it as she obviously was.

"It's disgusting and inhumane," said Sami heatedly, "Why would you watch something like that John?"

"I was curious," said John unrepentantly, "I was wondering if there were weight divisions in it like when people fight or whether they're all just bantam weights… you know, by default?"

He looked over at Sami enquiringly whose face was frozen in a look of horrified dismay and quite rightly figured she didn't know the answer to his question.

"John," whimpered Sami in despair at ever having a hope in hell of understanding the way he thought nowadays and knowing she was just going to have to live with this kind of crazy forever now.

"Do you want to go back to talking about S-E-X?" he offered helpfully when he saw how out of her depths she was.

Sami groaned and let her head hit the table top loudly - this day was not shaping up to be a good one and it was only 8:30 in the morning!

The next evening EJ stood between the twin's two cots and leant down resting an elbow on each cot rail, smiling down lovingly at the two children currently sitting up in their respective beds. They were looking back up at him, eyes wide with recognition and EJ couldn't help but ponder how he'd ever managed to think his life had been a happy one before they'd come into it. To see their little faces light up when he walked into a room made him feel invincible, like nothing could ever touch him as long as he had their trust and love. It was something he was determined never to lose...

"So how were your days today eh?" he asked them softly, "Daddy missed you guys dreadfully. What did you get up to without him?"

Ali gave a little squeal at the sound of his voice and began to wave her arms around wildly, bursting into an excited chatter and ending with a gurgling laugh. EJ couldn't help but laugh at her antics, it was as though she understood exactly what he'd said and responded in kind.

"You're quite the story teller aren't you sweetheart?" he asked of her affectionately, he leaned in closer to her and in a loud whisper said, "You get that from your mother."

Ali gave an emphatic nod at that, her head doing that cute bobble headed thing that babies do when they are still working out what their necks are for. EJ reached out and stroked her cheek lovingly and then smiled over at his son.

"And what about you my boy?" he quizzed the other child with an indulgent smile, "Did you seize the day, learn any new tricks whilst I was out earning our keep?"

Johnny raised his eyebrows and if EJ didn't know better he could have sworn the baby was actually thinking about it. His face suddenly split into a giant grin and he scooted along on his backside closer to where EJ was leaning over the cots and picked up a stuffed bear and waved it at his father.

"Wow Johnny," said EJ, taking the offered toy, duly impressed, "That _is_ a new trick! I'd better keep an eye on you with these developmental stages; I don't want to miss anything. Whatever you do don't do the walking thing when I'm not around or you'll break Daddy's heart and we don't want that eh?"

Johnny gurgled up happily at him and EJ gave a satisfied nod.

"Then we're in agreement, no milestones unless I'm around," he said, stroking the boys head dotingly.

EJ gave a bit of a sigh, thinking yet again how hard it was to be away from them throughout the day. He had to work to support them all but it didn't make being parted from them any easier. How could these tiny creatures that hadn't even been around nine months have burrowed so deeply into his heart he wondered. But then, he shouldn't be surprised, their mother had done the exact same thing nearly two years ago now from the first time he'd met her.

"You know I'd much rather be staying home with you two then going out to a business dinner tonight," he confided in them regretfully, "It would just be the four of us seeing as Grandma Marlena and Uncle John are out for the evening… and scary Uncle Rolf is back in his box for the evening. But Daddy has to work to give you guys all the things you need."

Ali waved the toy she was holding around and nodded sympathetically at him.

"Now why can't your mother be this understanding eh?" he asked the twins with another sigh, "I'm doing this for us, all of us. But don't you worry sweethearts, Mummy and Daddy will sort this out - fighting is one of our favourite things and we're both quite gifted at it even if I do say so myself. Mummy is just being completely unreasonable at the moment but I can talk her round, no problem at all."

EJ pursed his lips then and gave them both a thoughtful look before continuing on.

"Although if you could put a good word in for me when you're with her that would be great," he mused and then rather hastily, "Not that I need it of course, just as a bit of back up because of that stubborn streak of Mummy's - which incidentally, if you're wondering, is one of the great many things that makes me crazy about her."

EJ glanced at his watch and then back at the twins.

"Great Grandma Caroline is going to be here soon," he informed them, "And I want you two little monkeys to be on your best behaviour you hear? No ganging up on her like you do with your mother and me. Play nice otherwise your next baby sitter will be weird old Uncle Rolf."

The twins made suitably encouraging noises to this and EJ grinned, leaning down and kissing them both a good night kiss on their noses. He straightened up and walked to the door that adjoined to Sami's bedroom but turned round before he got to the door.

"Actually kids," he told them, "That was an idle threat - Uncle Rolf is _never_ going to be babysitting you guys… _ever_. And that goes for being left alone with small animals as well. I'll explain why when you get older."

The twins seemed happy enough with that and EJ dimmed the light, knowing they'd probably sit up chatting to one another for a little longer before settling down to sleep. EJ strolled across the hall and into the bedroom he shared with Sami, remembering to duck under the infamous chin up bar that was still in place. It was still there because EJ and it had reached an uneasy truce after a particularly imaginative lovemaking session had found a use for the thing other than what it was intended for. The thought made EJ grimace. Sami had been sticking to her guns about the moratorium on all things sexual in their relationship. It had only been two days since their battle of wills had started but it already felt like a life time. Thank god he was leaving for New York tomorrow and when he got back things could go back to normal.

"Are they asleep?"

Samantha's disembodied voice drifted in from the direction of the ensuite as EJ took a seat on the bed.

"No," he called back, "But they're happy enough."

"Good, I don't want them being any trouble for Grandma tonight."

"We talked about it and reached an understanding," EJ informed her, lying back on the bed and blowing out a tired breath.

"I feel bad about asking her to do it," said Sami, still in the bathroom, "But seeing as you _insisted _on me coming along to this thing with Nicole tonight…"

Sami let the not so subtle recrimination trail off and EJ rolled his eyes as he lay there looking up at the ceiling.

"I told you Samantha," he said evenly, forcing himself to be patient, "It is a business meeting and as it is out of hours I thought you might be happier coming along then not seeing as how upset you are about the whole Nicole thing."

"I am _not_ upset!" she snapped back at him.

"Oh right, my mistake," said EJ with a little laugh, "Don't know why I would have gotten that impression at all. I'm just trying to put your mind at ease sweetheart, that's all. But if you absolutely insist then of course you don't have to go, I'll just make an excuse for you."

"And have Nicole think that I'm backing out of a fight?" asked Sami's voice in horror, "Never!"

"And on that note," said EJ, propping himself on his elbows, "Is it too much to hope for that my wife won't end up being the after dinner show when it comes to her dealings with my client? I just want to know beforehand in case I need to take some extra cash for the damage bill."

"Don't worry," bit out Sami, obviously unhappy, "You're _precious client _has nothing to worry about from me."

"Unlikely," muttered EJ and then couldn't help the little smile that came to his lips.

EJ knew this whole Nicole thing was far from over.

Samantha was never more dangerous when she felt backed into a corner and he couldn't wait to see what she had up her sleeve. The no sex thing had caught him off guard although it shouldn't have but he wasn't worried. EJ knew that she had just as much trouble keeping her hands off him as he did off her. It would be interesting to see who would break first - he was almost certain it was going to be him. EJ wasn't fazed by this latest turn of events - he knew what she was doing. All of her previous relationships had been about one person being the boss over the other. It would take Sami a little while but she'd realise soon enough that it wasn't like that with them. They were equals, in every way and neither one needed to dominate the other.

Meanwhile he had the absolute joy of watching Samantha plot and scheme - he would never tire of the complex woman that was Samantha DiMera.

When he'd told her of the business dinner tonight she'd given in way to easily, which could only mean one thing - she was up to something. The conniving, unapologetically devious Sami was rearing up her gorgeous head and EJ couldn't wait, even though he suspected it was going to cost him at some point down the road but he didn't care. She was a sight to behold when in full battle flight and he loved every scheming inch of her. There was no way that Sami was going along with him tonight without having some grand scheme of Machiavellian proportions! EJ's grin widened at the thought and decided he should take some extra cash with him just in case - after all, they didn't except credit cards for bail money do they?

"What tie are you wearing?" she called out to him.

EJ looked down and at the item of clothing she asked about before replying.

"The red one," he informed her.

"You can't wear that," she told him.

"Why not?" asked EJ in bemusement.

"Because I'm wearing a green dress," she explained, "It will clash."

"Sweetheart we're just going out to dinner," said EJ indulgently, "Not to our prom, it doesn't matter."

"It will clash with my dress," she repeated stubbornly, "Wear the grey one instead."

EJ shrugged, even though she couldn't see it and got off the bed, going over to the closet they shared.

"You don't own a green evening dress," he suddenly remembered, undoing the offending tie and hanging it back on its rack.

"I bought a new one today," she informed him.

"Oh," said EJ, slinging the Samantha sanctioned tie around his neck and beginning to tie it, "I don't see what was wrong with the red one, red and green are quite festive you know."

"It's July," she replied flatly.

"Well yes," he conceded, turning around and facing towards the bathroom door, finishing the last of the knot as he did, "But if it's good enough for Christmas I don't see why…"

The rest of his sentence was lost forever when Sami finally emerged from the bathroom and stood there across from him. EJ froze where he was, suddenly numb hands still on his tie as he looked wide eyed at the woman in front of him. She hadn't been lying, she had gotten a new dress... and it was green. EJ knew he was gawking like a love struck teenager but could do nothing about it.

His wife stood before him, her long blonde hair swept up in a loose up do that looked careless but was probably the reason she was in the bathroom so long because it wouldn't have taken very long to get into _that _dress. The dress itself was made of some soft material that clung to each and every luscious curve of her body, stopping just above her knees. The bodice was V-shaped and did simply breath taking things to her bust line. She already sported a more than generous post baby's cleavage but this dress seemed to know how to display that particular aspect of her figure with heart stopping success. It was cut so cleverly that it gave the illusion that more of her body was being revealed than was actually the case. The dress almost seemed to drip off Samantha's body and it was taking all of EJ's inner resolve not to fall to his knees at her mercy… which he assumed was the point.

"So do you think I'll pass muster at dinner tonight?" she asked calmly, holding his gaze, "Is the dress alright?"

"Sweetheart," rasped EJ, surprised he even had the ability to talk at all, "That isn't a dress, it's a religious experience!"

Sami hid a triumphant smile from him but couldn't help the self satisfied look on her face.

"I couldn't get the zip all the way up," said Sami, looking ever so innocent, "Could you help me please EJ?"

She turned around then and presented him with her back. Amazingly the back view was almost as good as the front and EJ swallowed noisily at the sight of her naked back. He walked over to where she was standing and with still numb fingers he endeavoured to do up the tiny zip. It was hard to get a hold of and he was worried about tearing the impossibly delicate fabric. It also didn't help the fact that he had the almost overwhelming urge to rip this dress from her body and the dinner meeting be damned!

Sami smiled smugly to herself as she felt him fumbling behind her. It looked like her plan was working so far. To say she'd caught him off guard would be an understatement judging by the look on his face when she'd walked into that room and that was no easy thing to do with a DiMera. She was going to make sure she was all he could think of every minute he was gone.

EJ finally managed to get a hold of the little zip and slowly began to move it up. His knuckle grazed the indent of her spine as he did and despite herself Sami gave a little shudder at the sensation. She felt him stop then and knew he was looking at her quizzically without having to turn around.

"You're hands are cold," she lied hastily, knowing that they were anything but.

"Sorry," he murmured and she could hear the knowing smile in his voice, his breath tickling her ear as he spoke.

Sami clenched her jaw and endeavoured to get a grip. This night was about throwing him off balance and she wasn't about to get caught in her own trap. She was going to prove to him that he couldn't live without her, just like Sami knew she could no longer live without him. By showing him just what it was he was missing out on he'd learn his lesson and anything that scrawny Nicole tried to tempt him with would be useless. That was the plan and now all she had to do was dangle herself just out of his reach and that would keep her front and centre in his mind, if not further down his body as well. All she had to do was try and get her body to stop being such a traitor to her will and everything would be fine.

It was a simple plan and it was going to work - it had to.

"I'm going to go right ahead and assume that this dress was hideously expensive," his voice even closer now as he leaned in to whisper in her ear from where he was standing behind her.

"And if it was?" she asked defiantly, ready for a fight, "What would you have to say about it?"

"I'd have to say that if you paid twice the amount it would still be worth every penny," he breathed into her ear and Sami bit her lip at how sexy he sounded saying that to her.

She felt him press a very soft kiss to the side of her neck but it was over so quickly and he was already moving away from her before she could pull away. The sensitive skin of her neck tingled still from the little caress but she determinedly ignored it. EJ walked over to the door frame leading out into hall and leant against it, hoping he was giving an air of casualness despite feeling anything but.

"So," he said, his eyes running all over her freely now and regardless of her best intentions Sami felt her insides quiver a bit at the look on his face, "Does this little number include a wrap of some kind at all?"

"No," she said with a slight frown, "It's a warm night, why would I need a wrap."

"It's not for you," he observed dryly, "It's for me."

"What does _that_ mean?" asked Sami with a challenging tilt of her head.

"It means, my darling, that I am going to be spending the entire evening fending off every man with a pulse," observed EJ with an arch of an eyebrow and folding his arms in front of himself as he lounged in the door way, "A wrap would at least mean I could get you into Chez Rouge without having to hit anyone."

"There are plenty of dresses out there with less material in than then this!" she defended her choice hotly, trying to keep this little game on target and not keep picturing him ripping this dress off her body and throwing her on the bed so he could have his evil way with her.

"Yes but few people have quite as much to put into that amount of material," he said with a roguish grin, his eyes deliberately lingering a little longer on the creamy skin of her bust line.

Sami felt her cheeks heat at his impish teasing, knowing she only had herself to blame though because wasn't this what she wanted when she bought this dress in the first place? But the dress was meant to give her the upper hand in their little tussle for power but she felt anything but in control in that moment. But no one could accuse her of being a coward so she took a deep breath, determined to finish what she started and get back control of this situation.

"Well if you've got it flaunt it," she announced a little more breezily than she actually felt, "Isn't that what they say?"

"If it is I have to say I like the way _they_ think," said EJ with an amused twitch of his lips at her bravado.

"You would," she said with a roll of her eyes.

She walked over to where he was standing, ready to leave. Sami paused then and tilted her head back to look him squarely in the eye, both of them in the doorway now, standing so close but not actually touching.

"Ready?" she asked him, giving him her best and sexiest smile, looking up at him tantalisingly through her lashes, a teasing promise in her blue eyes.

EJ knew she was playing with him, trying to get her own way and prove a point and adored her even the more because of it. Life with Samantha would never be dull and he wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, there was nothing he loved more than a good challenge… or a naughty one for that matter.

"Absolutely," he murmured, his voice low and his eyes moving over her face, taking in each beautiful curve.

Sami gave him a challenging look and moved past him.

"Alright Samantha Jean DiMera," he muttered under his breath, an evil spark in his eye as he watched her sashay towards the stairs, "Game on it is then!"

Twenty minutes later EJ was helping Sami from the car as a valet appeared to park the car for them. Right away the young man's eyes went to Sami's chest and EJ drew himself up to his full height and glowered down at him. The younger man caught the look and gave an intimidated start, hastily looking away and mumbling about the keys. He scurried off to park the car under EJ's watchful glare.

Great, not even in the door yet and he was having to beat them off with a stick - tonight's going to be a barrel of laughs thought EJ grimly. Sami for her part seemed oblivious to the fuss she was causing, walking ahead to the doors of Chez Rouge.

"Sami!"

Both she and EJ turned at the sound of the man's voice and EJ rolled his eyes.

"Chris," said Sami in surprise, smiling as the other man approached them, "What are you doing here?"

"Meeting some friends for dinner," he told her with a smile before his eyes dropped to look at her appreciatively, "Wow Sami, you look simply stunning in that dress - a real show stopper!"

"Doesn't she?" agreed EJ smoothly, coming up behind Sami and putting a hand on her bare back, "Sometimes I can hardly believe my good fortune to be married to such a gorgeous creature."

"It does seem unlikely," said Chris, the pleasant smile on his lips belying the insult.

"Is that your car?" asked Sami, looking impressed at the low slung sports car being driven off by the valet.

"Yes it is," smiled Chris, "Do you like it?"

"It's great," said Sami, "It reminds me of yours EJ, when we first met."

"Mine was the model up from that one," said EJ calmly.

"You loved that car," she teased him with a smile.

"I did," he agreed readily, "But two seaters aren't exactly family friendly - what I have now is far more sensible."

"Well sensible is always good," said Chris making it sound anything but, "I guess I just like something that makes a bit of a statement about who I am."

"I've always rather speak for myself rather than let an inanimate object do it for me," mused EJ, "But each to their own I suppose."

"Brr," said Sami, giving a sudden shudder, "There is a bit of a cool breeze coming from somewhere, I wish I had brought a wrap now."

"Not as much as I do," muttered EJ under his breath as her body reacted to the cold and highlighted already prominently displayed assets in that dress.

Chris' eyes were riveted to Sami's chest all of a sudden and EJ was two seconds away from simply punching his lights out when Sami turned around and started towards the restaurant, inadvertently saving Chris from a painful beating. EJ opened the outer doors to Chez Rouge for Sami, letting her pass through before following her in and keeping the door open for Chris as well. However when Chris went to walk through EJ lodged his foot against the door and the heavy wooden door sprang back and hit Chris in the face.

"Chris!" exclaimed Sami when she heard the crack sound and the man make a muffled groan, "Are you alright, what happened?"

Chris blinked dazedly, holding the side of his face that had taken the full brunt of the door.

"Oh sorry old boy!" said EJ, sounding deeply apologetic, "My foot got in the way there. Sorry, it's just that I've got such large feet I can't always seem to keep track of them."

Chris looked at him with barely masked scepticism, knowing full well that it was intentional but not being able to say anything in front of Sami, as well EJ knew if the slight smirk on his face was anything to go by.

"I'm fine," he said unevenly, "Just an accident - no problem."

Chris stepped through the door, this time hanging on tightly to the door, just to be on the safe side, with EJ looking on in amusement.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Sami worriedly, "I think that might bruise."

"Since when do you care about putting bruises on people?" asked a disdainful voice behind the group.

"Nicole," said Sami with a sickly sweet smile as she turned round, "Don't you look… oh, what's the word… I know… _cheap_ tonight."

"Well someone's feeling confident," said Nicole, looking her up and down, "What's the matter Sami, no mirrors at that mausoleum you live in, is that why you think you can carry a dress like that off?"

"Wow Nicole," said Sami, feigning admiration, "You can hardly see that black eye anymore - finally your habit of wearing more make up then a transvestite is paying off."

"Okay then!" said EJ evenly, stepping in before things got any worse, "I think the next insult should be traded over the appetiser don't you ladies, so why don't we go in and order eh?"

Chris was looking decidedly bemused at the exchange and Sami gave an embarrassed grimace as she realised he'd been listening to her and Nicole go at it.

"Um, well, I should go and meet my friends," said Chris a bit uncertainly.

"Of course Chris," said EJ jovially, "Don't want to keep them waiting hmm?"

"Who was that?" asked Nicole in her usual forthright manner once the man had left, "I noticed you didn't introduce us Sami - what's the matter, ashamed of me?"

"Ashamed seems such a small word for how I feel about you Nicole," said Sami feigning regret.

"Alright ladies," said EJ making a sweeping gesture with his hands, ushering them inside, "Let's walk as we trade insults eh? This place closes at eleven."

As Maggie showed them to their table EJ wondered idly if he should ask for the entire cutlery to be replaced with plastic knives and forks but then thought better of it. He somehow thought that these two would find a way of making a napkin into a weapon of mass destruction if left alone together for long enough so it would be a wasted effort.

EJ was _so_ glad he'd brought that extra Visa card with him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter FIVE**

"How was last night?" asked John, "You kids were home before we were."

"It was…" EJ trailed off, remembering the night, "… interesting Uncle, it was interesting."

"In what way?" asked John, always happy to hear a good Sami/Nicole story.

"Well the age old question of exactly how many profanities can be yelled in a public place before you're asked to leave has finally been answered," said EJ dryly, "And in case you're wondering Uncle - the answer is probably more than you'd think."

John arched an eyebrow at him.

"And let's just say that letting Nicole order the flambé dessert was also a mistake," said EJ ruefully, "And that we can all be grateful that Maggie has such quick thinking wait staff working for her."

"That _does_ sound interesting," agreed John stoically, "Sorry I missed it."

"Don't worry," said EJ dryly, "The footage will probably turn up on YouTube any day now - just type in 'flaming centrepieces'."

"So when does your flight leave?" asked John, thinking he was going to have to ask Blondie what a 'YouTube' was later on.

"Midday," said EJ distractedly, "I'd better go and get the last of my stuff packed or I'll be late."

As he left almost instantly Sami entered from the other door into the sitting room.

"Rolf made you morning tea," said John, indicating the cup of coffee and a couple of cookies sitting on the coffee table.

"He's getting kind of domesticated isn't he?" said Sami.

"Now if we can just keep him off the furniture," said John and Sami wasn't entirely sure if he was joking or not.

The idea of coffee and a sugar hit was appealing to Sami. It had been three days now since EJ had told her about New York and Nicole - three days without sex. It shouldn't be that big a deal really but ever since EJ had recovered from his surgery there hadn't been a single day that they hadn't… interacted… as man and wife in some form or the other. Last night had been a close call to in her determination to leave him desperate for her whilst he was away.

"_Do you need some help getting out of that dress?" his voice was low and coming from just near her ear as he came up behind her._

_Sami wanted to say no but she did in fact need help and steeled herself to remain strong._

"_Thanks," she said in what she hoped was an unconcerned voice, "That would be very helpful thank you EJ."_

_She felt the heat of his body behind her - why was he always so hot she wondered to herself hopelessly. Sami tried not to start when she felt his hands graze the skin of her back as he slowly pulled her zipper down. He was taking his sweet time about it and all the while his warm breath was tickling the back of her neck._

"_You were breath taking tonight," he told her, his deep voice making her toes curl in her shoes, "I couldn't take my eyes off you the entire evening."_

_Either had anyone and EJ grimaced at the amount of times he found men openly staring at his wife and none more so then that insipid little weasel Chris. He knew the type, all show and no substance. Uninspired in their lack of imagination - they relied solely on their looks and what little bit of charm they could muster up. EJ had met dozens of his type before. The way he kept coming up to their table and out right flirting with Sami right in front of him, as though EJ didn't even exist. He'd been subtle enough that Sami hadn't really realised what he was doing but EJ knew. As soon as he got back from New York he was going to deal with the impudent pup - it was his number one priority. _

"_I'm glad you liked the dress," said Sami, cursing how breathless she sounded._

"_It wasn't the dress that pleased me," said EJ, nuzzling the back of her neck now, "It was the woman in it."_

_Sami felt her eyelids begin to flutter shut, two days of being without his touch starting to chip away at her resolve. She leant back against him and he slid his arms around her waist, pulling her more firmly against him. _

"_I'm going to miss you so much Samantha," he whispered to her and she felt her knees go weak._

The only thing that saved her from giving in to him right then and there and ruining her whole plan was Johnny starting to cry. It gave her an excuse to get away from him and give herself a moment to compose herself whilst trying to settle Johnny. She stayed a lot longer than she needed to in the twins room just to make sure he'd already be in bed and hopefully asleep when she got back and it had worked, depressingly well. So now she sat there, tired, cranky and horny and her husband was about to leave town with another woman. Sami bit moodily into the chocolate chip cookie and waited for the endorphins to release from the sugar hit, hoping they were going to help a little in making her feel better about all this.

"So is it just my imagination or is my nephew a little tense these days?" asked John, sitting in his favourite armchair and crossing his legs, looking at her expectantly.

"Of course he's tense," muttered Sami distractedly and chewing on her snack, forgetting herself for a moment, "A couple of days without…"

She stopped then, realising what she was about to say and looked John wide eyed, swallowing her next words before they could see the light of day.

"Without…" invited John expectantly.

"Umm… without… umm…" Sami tried desperately how to finish that sentence and looked at the treat she had in her hand, "… ah cookies."

"Cookies?" repeated John flatly, sounding unconvinced, "My nephew has been going without _cookies_ lately and that's why he's so tense?"

"Um, that's right," said Sami, her cheeks a bit pink.

"Now why would he be on a… cookie free diet all of a sudden I wonder?" mused John, "Something about him going away I suspect?"

"Well I just thought that if EJ didn't have any… cookies before he went away then he's going to be especially keen to get home as quickly as he can so he can have them again," said Sami, not sure why she was having this conversation with John of all people but she needed someone to tell her that this plan was going to work.

"Hm," said John, seeming to consider that, "_Or_ you could argue that having no cookies will make him so desperate for them that he'll eat the first cookie he comes across, even if he finds it on the floor."

"No!" said Sami, her eyes wide, "That isn't how it works!"

"It's how it could work," pointed out John reasonably.

Sami looked away in distress - why hadn't she thought of that she wondered in anguish? Had she just sent her sexually frustrated, gorgeous husband off to another city with a complete tramp? How could she be so short sighted??

"Can we…" began Sami, trying not to panic now.

"… talk about something else?" John finished for her helpfully.

"Yes," she bit out.

EJ reappeared then, suitcase in hand and looked between the two occupants in the room quizzically.

"What are you two talking about?" he asked with an interested look.

"Something else," said John blithely, "We haven't decided what yet."

"Right, I see," said EJ, who didn't really, "Well I've said goodbye to the twins, they were sleeping but I stole a kiss from them both anyway. I'm going to miss those two."

"They'll miss you too," said Sami, looking up at him and trying not to obsess over the fact that she'd made a terrible miscalculation in regards to her husband.

"I know," he smiled and then looked at his watch, "My taxi will be here any minute now."

Just then Johnny started to cry and Sami grimaced.

"That wasn't my fault," said EJ quickly, "They were both sound asleep when I left."

"I'll go," said Sami, "You'll be leaving soon anyway."

She got up and avoiding looking at EJ, she left the room to see to her son.

"Wifey is a bit tense," observed John after she'd left.

"Mm," said EJ, rubbing the back of his neck distractedly.

"But on the up side your cat allergy seems to have cleared up nicely," said John happily.

EJ shot his uncle an unimpressed look.

"Yes," he said dryly, "That's quite the blessing isn't it?"

"Well who knows," said John expressionlessly, "Maybe it will flair up again once you get back hm nephew?"

"Uncle," said EJ calmly, "Can we…"

"… talk about something else?" John offered helpfully.

"Yes," said EJ flatly but he was saved from having to worry about what that might be when there was a honk of a horn from outside.

"That's my taxi," said EJ, bending down and picking up his suitcase.

He looked up at the ceiling and frowned.

"Uncle, could you tell Samantha that I'll ring her from the hotel when I get in please?" asked EJ, "I'd better get going now or I'll be late - checking in takes forever nowadays."

"I'll be sure to let the wild cat know," said John agreeably.

"Right," said EJ, still hesitating a bit but then gave a shrug, knowing he couldn't sort things out with Sami now and it would have to wait until he got back, "I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Fine," said John evenly.

EJ gave a nod and a last frustrated look at the ceiling where Sami was currently with the twins and headed out the door. John watched him go, tutting to himself.

Cats, cookies, spelling words instead of saying them… and they tried to make out like _he_ was the crazy one in the family!

Less than a minute later Sami returned to only find John in the room.

"Has EJ gone?" she asked in dismay.

"The taxi arrived," John informed her, "He just walked out the door."

"He didn't say goodbye," said Sami, starting to get upset.

"He said goodbye to me if that helps," said John expressionlessly, "I'm sure he meant to include you in that as well."

Sami felt herself begin to tear up, getting unexpectedly emotional at the thought of EJ leaving without saying goodbye to her in person.

"And oh look," said John ironically, holding up the now empty plate, "EJ took the last cookie on his way out."

Sami looked wide eyed at the empty plate and couldn't take it anymore. She gave a horrified gasp and bolted from the room. John shook his head, taking a bite out of the last cookie that he'd actually palmed himself when she wasn't looking.

Honestly, what would these kids do without him he wondered to himself as he happily munched away?

Sami meanwhile had raced out the front door and caught EJ just as he was about to get into the taxi.

"EJ!" she cried out and launched herself in to his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him into a heated kiss.

EJ had been a little caught off guard but quickly regained his composure, returning her kisses just as passionately. As the seconds dragged on and the couple in his rear view mirror didn't seem to be showing any signs of stopping the taxi driver began to get a bit uncomfortable. He'd seen his fair share of goodbye kisses and what not but if these two kept at it like that they'd be able to charge admission soon!

Sami and EJ kissed each other as though their lives depended on it, nothing else mattering in the world for those minutes except for each other. EJ felt her melting into him and pulled her harder against him, deepening the kiss even more and Sami matched his ardour easily. Eventually they broke apart and she looked up at him, eyes wide with distress and lust, her face flushed from the heat of their kisses. EJ leant down and pressed his forehead against hers, breathing unevenly.

"Me too," he said roughly, seeing the desire and love in her eyes and the sadness at the thought of being parted.

Sami gave a little crooked smile, seeing in his eyes all the reassurances she'd ever need.

"I'll call you as soon as I land," he told her huskily, kissing her gently this time.

"I'll be waiting," she said breathlessly.

EJ gave her a warm, tender smile and reluctantly let her go. Sami watched unhappily as he finally got into the taxi. He closed the door behind him and put a hand to the glass of the door window and Sami pressed her own against it as well and they shared a last long look before the taxi drove away.

"So how long you going away for?" asked the cabbie, use to making friendly conversation.

"Two days," said EJ, looking back over his shoulder at the sight of Sami standing there, watching him drive away.

"Two days?" laughed the cabbie, "Well do yourself a favour man - if you're ever leaving for longer than that say your goodbyes behind closed doors otherwise you're going to get yourself arrested."

EJ grinned at the man's observations and thought that wasn't probably bad advice. He put his fingers to his lips, the taste of her still in his mouth and closed his eyes, wishing away the next two days of his life.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter SIX**

Later that evening EJ was in his hotel room in New York dialling the number for home.

"Hello."

EJ frowned at the unfamiliar male voice that answered and looked at his phone to check he'd dialled the right number - he had.

"Hello," replied EJ, "Who's this?"

"Oh AJ," said the male voice blithely, "It's you, calling from New York are you?"

EJ grimaced and looked at his watch. What was Chris Jones doing at Sami's at 6:30 at night - as though he didn't know?

"Chris," said EJ his voice pleasant despite his clenched jaw, "Fancy you being there."

"Yeah well I had another meeting with Sami this afternoon and I offered her a lift home and then can you believe it, my car broke down," explained Chris cheerfully, "What are the chances?"

"Better than average I'm guessing Chris," said EJ smoothly, remembering his own 'car problems' with Sami when he was 'trying' to get her to the church for her wedding to Austin.

"We had to wait for road side assist to come along and it ended up being awhile," said Chris and EJ could hear the smugness in the other man's voice, "So how is New York - Sami told me you were going to be away until the end of the weekend. Shame about that, still, I'm more than happy to keep her company while you're away. You know, look out for her… as a friend."

"I can't tell you what a weight off my mind that is knowing you're there," said EJ, his eyes hard even whilst his voice still sounded light.

"Well Sami needs someone she can rely on while you're away, you know with the twins and all," said Chris, obviously feeling like he had the upper hand in their unspoken little tussle at the moment.

"You're helping with the twins?" EJ repeated sceptically.

"I helped Sami give them their dinner," said Chris and EJ could hear the smirk in his voice, "We bonded over some mashed carrots and potato."

"That's great Chris," said EJ, his jaw clenched so tightly now that it was aching, "I'm so glad to hear that you were able to help Samantha out - there are no words."

Actually EJ could think of a few very choice words for the other man right then and it was taking all of his energy not to use each and every one of them. EJ cricked his neck, trying to relieve some of the tension.

"So where's Samantha now?" asked EJ, pleased at how calm he sounded despite the impulse to hang up and get on the first plane back to Salem and tear apart this wanker with his bare hands.

The thought of the other man being there with Samantha and the twins when he couldn't be made EJ almost crazy with jealousy. He knew that Chris was only using the twins to get closer to Sami and the thought of his children being used as pawns in this tosser's pathetic attempts to get his wife into bed made EJ almost start to shake with rage.

"She's putting the twins down," Chris informed him happily, "Do you want me to go get her - I'm not far away."

"Who's that you're talking to?"

EJ could hear Sami's voice all of a sudden and gripped the phone tighter, a wave of emotion coming over him at the sound.

"Is that EJ?" she asked eagerly.

Chris gave a warm smile to her.

"Sure is," he said, handing her the phone, "And he can't wait to talk to you."

"EJ?" said Sami and he smiled to hear the excitement in her voice.

"Hi sweetheart," he said, some of the tension leaving his body.

"How did the first lot of depositions go?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied, "Better than I'd hoped in fact."

"That's good," and could hear the smile in her voice.

"I hear you've had an eventful day," said EJ, careful to keep his voice neutral, "Chris has been filling me in."

"Oh yeah the car thing," she laughed ruefully, "Could have done without that and now poor old Chris has been stuck her helping me out."

"Well poor old Chris doesn't seem to mind," said EJ with a grimace.

"Lucas rang today," she said, suddenly changing the subject, "He wants to come and see Ali tomorrow."

What _was_ this?!

He hadn't been out town even eight hours yet and the men were swarming around Samantha like bees to a honey pot.

"Friday isn't his access visit day," said EJ firmly, "It was Tuesday and he's already been."

"Apparently he's going to be out of town for a couple of months and he rang to ask if he could see Ali before he left," said Sami.

"He didn't mention anything about that on Tuesday," said EJ suspicious of the timing with him being out of town and all.

"Apparently he just got confirmation it was happening today," said Sami with a sigh.

"What did you say?" asked EJ.

"I said yes EJ," she replied, "What else could I say - he's going to be gone two months."

"When does he leave?" asked EJ with a frown, "Can we make it for when I'm going to be home?"

"He leaves on Saturday," she said, "So no."

"Right," said EJ, not happy but making sure he didn't take it out on her.

"Dinner vill be in vone hour."

EJ could hear Rolf make the announcement in the background suddenly.

"Oh Chris," he heard Sami say, "You'll stay for dinner won't you? I feel like I need to pay you back for all your kindness today."

_Samantha!_

EJ groaned to himself at his wife's lack of guile - could she _really_ not see what this guy as up to?!

"That would be great Sami," he heard Chris accept willingly, "If it's not too much trouble at all."

"It's no problem," said Sami artlessly, "One more for dinner please Rolf."

"Very good Mrs DiMera," and EJ rolled his eyes at this latest turn of events.

"Sorry," Sami apologised to him, giving him back all of her attention, "Where were we?"

"It's fine Samantha," said EJ calmly, "You've got a guest, we'll talk later - you go and look after Chris for now."

"Okay," said Sami and then more quietly, "I miss you."

"I miss you too darling," EJ returned softly, "I'll talk to you soon."

Sami hung up then and EJ stood there for a moment, organising his thoughts. Chris obviously felt pretty sure of himself with EJ being all the way in New York but the man was about to learn not to underestimate a DiMera, no matter what his geography was. EJ dialled one of the lesser used phone line numbers for the house, the one that was in the kitchen.

"DiMera residenze."

"Rolf it's me," said EJ.

"Oh Elvis," he said, "I vill just get Zamantha for you."

"No, no," said EJ quickly, "I've already spoken to her, it's you I want to speak to."

"Oh," said the man in surprise, "Vhy is zat Elvis?"

"Rolf I know that you're on a good behaviour bond and released into the care of my Uncle," said EJ, "And that you seem to be attempting a reform of types…"

"Ya," agreed Rolf readily, "I am za turning of za leaf I am."

"Right," said EJ slowly, "Well, I was just wondering what with all the leaf turning that you're doing… what's your current position on poisoning people… for or against?"

"It vould depend on za perzon," said Rolf calmly.

"So I'm not hearing a definite 'nein' to the idea then?" EJ mused, "Would I be right in coming to that conclusion?"

"Iz zere zomething you'd like to do for you Elvis?" he asked, as though this was the most natural conversation in the world to be having.

"Now that you mention it Rolf," said EJ easily, "There is…"

EJ had just hung up the phone from talking with Rolf when the sound of a woman's voice came from behind him.

"What are you up to EJ?" asked Nicole, sauntering, uninvited into the room, "I hope you're not being a naughty boy now?"

She arched an inviting eyebrow at him.

"At least not without me," she purred.

"Nicole," said EJ ironically, "Do come in won't you, don't stand on ceremony."

"Never do," she said blithely and sat down on the bed and looked up at him enticingly, "So aren't you going to offer the lady a drink?"

"I'm going to go ahead and guess that the lady has already had a few drinks already and probably doesn't need anymore," said EJ sardonically, watching her lounge on his bed.

"My god, it's like you're my mother," said Nicole in disgust at his censure, "Only taller."

"I've been called worse things," said EJ with a little smile, "What can I do for you Nicole?"

"You can take me to dinner," she said happily.

"I'm having dinner in my room," he told her.

"Even better," she smiled sexily.

"I'm having a sandwich and going over today's depositions in preparations for tomorrows," continued on EJ smoothly.

"But that's boring!" pouted Nicole unhappily.

"No, it's what you're paying me for," EJ pointed out.

"I thought we could have some fun now you're away from the old ball and chain," she said petulantly.

"Nicole, I love Samantha, I want to be with Samantha and no one else," said EJ patiently, "I've told you this on many occasions. I'm not interested in cheating or lying."

"Then what kind of lawyer are you?" she scowled.

"The kind that is going to get you a nice, fat divorce settlement from Victor," said EJ with a little smile at her dig, "But he has to be left alone to do it."

"What were you doing on the phone when I came in?" she asked him, looking at him suspiciously, ignoring his last words.

"I was phoning home to check that everything was okay," he said calmly.

"Did I hear you mention a Chris?" she asked him, "Wasn't he the guy from Chez Rouge the other night, the one that kept coming up and talking to Sami all night?"

"I'm surprised you remember anything about that night other with the amount you were drinking Nicole," he said dryly.

"Oh please," she waved her hand dismissively, "I was driving that night - that was nothing!"

"So glad I didn't know _that_ at the time," said EJ ruefully.

"So, this Chris… got the hots for Sami huh?" asked Nicole in her usual tactless way.

"What makes you say that?" asked EJ, not giving anything away.

"Oh please!" she snorted inelegantly, "He was practically drooling all over her the entire night - I guess that's what happens when you dress like a…"

"Nicole!" said EJ warningly, "That's my wife you're talking about - not another word."

"Come on EJ," she ploughed on unconcerned, "He was practically humping her leg right there in front of us. What's with that - has he got some kind of mental illness or is he vision impaired or something? I mean - _Sami_… come on!"

"Again Nicole," said EJ, his voice hardening, "My _wife_. Samantha is a gorgeous woman that any man would find attractive, I've always known that."

"But you're not going to just let Fido there keep on sniffing round are you?" she asked him astutely, her eyes narrowing as she tried to read his expression, "You've got something up your sleeve, haven't you?"

"Nicole," sighed EJ.

"Can I help?" she asked him eagerly, her eyes lighting up with mischief, "Come on EJ, you now I could help you!"

"What makes you think I'm going to do anything?" asked EJ, looking ever the innocent.

"You're a DiMera," she scoffed, "Like you're _not_ going to do something - what is it EJ, tell me - I promise I won't tell anyone!"

"You don't even like Sami," said EJ, "Why would you want to help me?"

"Basically I just like screwing with people," admitted Nicole unrepentantly, "I think it might be the teensiest character flaw."

"You think?" he said ironically.

"So?" she said hopefully.

"Thank you for you're kind offer Nicole but I think I've got this one well in hand," said EJ with a little smirk.

"So what is it you're planning exactly?" she asked, disappointed but still curious.

"I'd rather not say," said EJ.

"But you are planning on doing something to Rover aren't you?" said Nicole, having a bit of her own schadenfreuden going on even though she didn't the word.

"There's an expression that comes to mind that seems particularly apt for this situation," EJ told her with a half smile, "If you want to play with the big dogs you have to learn how to piss in the tall grass."

"Wow," said Nicole, arching an eyebrow, "That Cambridge education thing really rounds a person out huh?"

"Quite," he smiled at her.

EJ looked down at his watch and then back at her.

"Now if you don't mind Nicole I have some rather pressing phone calls I have to make," said EJ, moving towards the door, "I'll see you tomorrow at the next deposition."

Nicole pouted at being so summarily dismissed but could do little about it.

"I'll see you at breakfast EJ," she purred, running a hand over his chest as she walked by him holding the door for her, "But if you get lonely in the meantime…"

"Then I'll ring my wife," said EJ happily.

Nicole rolled her eyes at him and flounced from the room, fed up with trying to give it away with this man and not getting anywhere. EJ closed the door behind her and picked up his cell phone and dialled.

"Mr Newman," he said when it was picked up, "EJ DiMera here."

"Mr DiMera," replied the other man, "Are you ringing for an update?"

Bill Newman was the private investigator EJ had keeping an eye on Lucas. EJ had thought it only prudent to keep tabs on a man that had twice tried to kill him, especially as Lucas still had access to Sami and Ali which EJ wasn't exactly thrilled about.

"No I'm happy enough for you to do that at our regular time," said EJ, knowing the man would have notified him of anything of interest, "I actually just need you to check something out for me. Apparently our boy has a new job coming up in Seattle - I need for you to make sure that it's all legit, that's it's how he says it is. Are you able to do that for me?"

"Not a problem Mr DiMera," replied the man, "I'll get back to you when I have the information."

"Sooner rather than later if possible," said EJ evenly, "There's a bonus in it for you if you can find out by tomorrow."

"I'll do my best Mr DiMera," he said.

EJ hung up, snapping his cell phone closed after finishing his talk with Bill and tapped a finger thoughtfully on the casing before flicking it open and making one last call.

"Uncle John, it's me," he said, loosening his tie.

EJ rolled his eyes skyward at the man's response.

"Elvis," he supplied in frustration, "Exactly how many other people call you Uncle John? Look, I've got a favour to ask of you…"

The next day Rolf answered the knock on the door to find Lucas standing impatiently on the other side of it.

"Ya?" he said.

"I'm here to see my daughter," said Lucas, annoyed that he had to go through this every time he came here.

"Oh ya," said Rolf with a nod, "Mrs DiMera and za kleines Mädchen are in za sitting room."

Lucas moved past him, walking towards the sitting room, eager to see his daughter and despite himself, have some time with Sami without that smug bastard EJ hovering over them. He knew the other man was out of town and the timing of his visit had been no accident. He stopped short when he saw who else was in the room though.

"John!" he said in surprise.

John had never been around for any of his other access visits and Lucas was pretty sure he knew who to thank for him being there now.

"Convict," replied John calmly and then going back to the newspaper he was reading.

"You know I'd really rather you didn't call me that," said Lucas a bit tersely even as he gave a smile for his daughter who had looked up at him when he walked in.

"No problem," said John agreeably, still reading his paper, "Jail bird it is then."

Lucas rolled his eyes, realising he was fighting a losing battle. Instead he bent down and picked up Ali for a cuddle. She squirmed a little unhappily in his arms but at least she didn't start crying like she often did.

"She's a bit out of sorts with her Daddy being out of town," said Sami, coming over and stroking her daughters head soothingly and then realised what she'd said, "Um… sorry, EJ."

Lucas' eyes hardened at her slip of the tongue. It was made even more painful because it was obvious it wasn't intentional on Sami's part, instead just showing how she'd come to see the relationship between Ali and EJ.

"Sorry," she mumbled guiltily.

The sound of Johnny's crying came over the baby monitor and saved Sami from having to say anything else.

"I'll just settle him down and be right back," said Sami, beating a hasty retreat from the suddenly tense atmosphere of the room.

Lucas put Ali back down on the baby rug and sat down beside her, picking up a toy and handing it to her before looking over at John.

"You know," he said with a bit of a frown, "I was hoping for some time alone with my daughter John."

"Yeah," agreed John readily, "That _would_ be great wouldn't it?"

He then promptly went back to his newspaper.

Lucas gave him a frustrated look.

"What I meant was that I thought you might be able to go somewhere else to read your paper," said Lucas, trying to stay calm.

"But it's my house," said John flatly, "Why don't you go somewhere else… oh wait, you can't - the whole supervised visits thing. Now why was that again… the old memory isn't what it used to be."

John looked to be concentrating for a minute and Lucas ground his teeth in agitation.

"Oh I remember now," said John expressionlessly, "You shot my nephew."

"You know John," said Lucas giving him a hard look, "You used to like me, back before your accident."

"Apparently I also used to like cheese but now it makes me constipated," said John with a shrug, "What are you going to do?"

Sami walked back in the room then, Johnny finally settled down.

"Everything alright?" she asked a little warily at seeing Lucas' expression.

"Yeah," said Lucas sullenly, "John and I were just discussing old times."

"That and dairy products," agreed John happily.

Sami rolled her eyes, it could have been worse she supposed, thinking back to some of the conversations she and John had been involved in recently.

"So explain to me again about this job?" said Sami, taking a seat close to Ali and leaning down and picking up a toy for her which she took.

"I've got a chance to try something a bit different with the company I'm with," said Lucas, "But I have to go to Seattle for two months for training. It's been okayed by my parole officer and I'll just sign in as usual down there like I do here. I won't get to see Ali in that time so that's why I asked to come see her now."

"And you leave tomorrow?" asked Sami, smiling at Ali as she grinned back happily.

"Yes," said Lucas shortly, "Why, can't wait to get rid of me Sami?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Sami asked him with an arched eyebrow.

"You know, I hoped that we could get over all this animosity and part as friends today Sami," said Lucas with a sigh, "I know we've had a rocky history but we do share two children - that counts for something doesn't it? I mean it's not like you haven't made your fair share of mistakes in the past and I've always found a way to forgive you, right?"

"Oh yes," said Sami, sounding bitter now, "And you never let me forget how big a favour you were doing me by 'forgiving' me all my sins did you Lucas? I don't know why I couldn't see it then but you never forgave me anything - every argument we ever had you were ready to throw those things back in my face."

"What kind of things?" asked John, looking back and forth between the two of them with great interest.

"Why don't you tell him Lucas," said Sami tightly, "You always seem more than ready to dredge them up at a moment's notice."

Lucas just grimaced and turned his attention back to Ali who was looking a little unsure with all the tension in the room, the corners of her little mouth drooping down in an unhappy pout. Sami shook her head, annoyed with herself for getting drawn into yet another pointless argument with Lucas. More than ever before she wished EJ was here, he always seemed to make her feel that everything was going to be alright.

It was later that afternoon that the phone rang and to Sami's delight it was EJ.

"Hi," she said and knew she was grinning like a loon even as she said the greeting.

"Hi," his deep voice coming over the line and making her heart beat a little faster, "How's my gorgeous girl tonight?"

"Missing you," she said, biting her lip and wishing it was Sunday already instead of only Friday and that there wasn't one whole more day until she'd be able to see him again.

"I miss you too sweetheart," he said warmly, "How are the twins?"

"Ratty," she complained laughingly, "They're teething and missing their Daddy."

"Well I've got good news on that front," said EJ happily, "I've gotten a lot more work done then I thought I would and I've managed to move a couple of the depositions around so I'll be able to fly back tomorrow rather than Sunday."

"Really!" squealed Sami, knowing she sounded like an excited school girl but not caring.

"Really," he laughed at the sound of excitement in her voice, "I can't bear to be away from you and the twins any longer."

"Oh EJ," she sighed happily, "I can't wait to see you."

"Nor I you," he told her, his own happiness obvious, "So how did Lucas' visit go yesterday?"

EJ actually already knew the answer to that question because he'd rung his Uncle earlier to check up on things.

"It was, you know…" she sighed, suddenly sounding deflated, "Like it usually is nowadays. I feel really guilty saying this but I'm relieved that he isn't going to be around for the next two months. It's like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Does that make me a bad mother to say something like that about my daughter's father?"

"Samantha you're a great mother," EJ comforted her, "And it's not like Ali really enjoys the visits is it? And Johnny gets upset at being separated from his sister. All in all I think it makes you an even better mother if that is possible by not wanting your children to be disrupted or upset in anyway."

"You always make me feel better about things," said Sami with a little smile, "How do you do that?"

"Believe it or not darling I'm just speaking the truth," he said gently.

"Oh I forgot to tell you," said Sami suddenly, "Something terrible happened at dinner last night."

"Oh?" said EJ innocently, "What was that sweetheart?"

"I don't know if you remember or not but Chris stayed to have dinner with us last night," she told him.

"That vaguely rings a bell," said EJ smoothly.

"Well it turns out he has an allergy to pepper," Sami began to explain animatedly.

"Really?" said EJ in surprise, "I did not know that."

EJ did know that because in between refereeing World War III between Nicole and Samantha the other night at Chez Rouge he'd over heard Chris giving strict instructions to his waiter about the fact that he had an allergy to pepper and couldn't have it anyway near his food. You never knew when information like that was going to come in handy and EJ had filed the information away. Turned out that it became useful sooner rather than later.

"Anyway, we told Rolf but apparently he got a bit confused - something about the Austrian word for _pepper_…" she continued her story.

"_Pfeffer_," EJ informed her.

"Yeah, that," said Sami, still finding it impressive that he could speak so many languages, "Well apparently it's a lot like the Austrian word for _peppers_."

"_Pfeffert_," EJ again supplied the translation, "Yes, they are very similar."

"So when Chris told him he had an allergy to _pepper_ he kind of translated it as meaning _peppers_ and long story short - there was pepper in the meal that Chris ended up eating," explained Sami.

"Oh dear," said EJ, sounding deeply concerned, "The poor man, I do hope he was alright."

"His lips swelled up like he'd been stung by a bee or something and then John had to drive him to the emergency room to get a shot," said Sami dramatically, "Can you believe it? I feel so bad about it."

"Well that was extremely unlucky for poor Chris," said EJ sounding very sincere but then he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and saw the smugly amused expression on his face and was glad that he was on the phone to Sami so she couldn't see it too.

"Yeah well, never a dull moment around here," grimaced Sami, "I'm _so_ glad you're coming home tomorrow EJ."

"Me too," he smiled, "I should be back by about one tomorrow afternoon."

"I can't wait," sighed Sami, a little smile on her lips.

"I love you Samantha," he said with great certainty.

"I love you too," she said softly.

EJ hung up the phone and sat on the bed and shook his head, his grin returning. Say what you will about Rolf - the man had his uses.

_Pfeffer/pfeffert _- it was genius!

No one would question such an easily made mistake and meanwhile Chris was off getting a shot in the ass - perfection. Finally Rolf was using his powers for good rather than evil. EJ was beginning to see why his father had kept the man around all these years. He so wished he could have been there to see Chris blow up like a puffer fish but knew he wouldn't have been able to stop laughing so this was probably better.

Chris didn't know it yet but he'd just bitten off way more than he could chew in setting his sights on Samantha but it was soon going to become very obvious to the interloper. EJ picked up his cell phone again and started to make some phone calls before the close of business a wicked smile on his lips.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter SEVEN**

EJ opened the front door of the DiMera mansion with his key - not bothering to knock, his nerves stretched tight at the thought of being able to Sami again. He walked through, carelessly dropping his keys on the nearby table and looking around. The house was quiet, unusually so and EJ gave a confused frown.

"Hi."

The sound of Sami's voice made him look up, a smile splitting his face when he saw her standing there, halfway up the sweeping staircase to the second level of the house. She smiled back at him and EJ felt his heart start beating an excited tattoo at the sight of her.

"We've got the place to ourselves," she informed him softly, "Everyone is out and the twins are at Grandma's."

Sami gave him a purposeful look and slowly turned around and started to climb the rest of the stairs slowly. EJ became mesmerised by the gentle sway of her backside until he realised to his horror that she was moving away from him. He dropped his suitcase noisily to the ground and bound up the stairs after her, catching up to her just as she reached the top and took a couple of steps into the hallway. He grabbed her arm, spinning her round and pressing her up against the wall.

"EJ!" she gasped in surprise, not thinking he was that close behind her.

"I can't bear not to be touching you for a minute longer," he groaned into the sensitive flesh of her neck.

Sami shuddered at how much raw desire was in his voice, melting into him as he pressed his long body against her, pinning her to the wall. He captured her mouth in a rough, desperate kiss and she returned it whole heartedly, matching his passion.

"You're so beautiful," he rasped against her mouth, "God I can't stand it!"

"EJ!" she moaned, tilting her hips up so it found a better home against him.

EJ groaned loudly at how good it felt, she fitted him perfectly and it was killing him being this close to her and not having her. She had become his obsession, his addiction and he'd die if he couldn't be inside her soon, he just knew it.

"I can't wait any longer," his voice rough with his desperate desire, "I need you so badly Samantha."

He'd pictured his return in his head, he'd walk in the door, she'd kiss him hello, they'd talked. He'd steal some more kisses and then they'd eventually make their way to the bedroom but as soon as he'd touched her he was undone, lost in her. He never knew that you could want something so much and not die from the wanting of it. An exquisite agony of desire and need that was devouring him from the inside out. She consumed him utterly, body and soul and he could never have enough of her.

He ground himself into her and she could feel exactly what she was doing to him and felt herself become instantly wet, shamelessly so. He kissed her again, not letting her leave him even though she knew she had no strength to do so even if she wanted to. His hands left her waist, grabbing her backside to hold her better against him.

His hand found it's way under her skirt and to her centre. What he found made him almost lose complete control. She was so wet, so ready for him that it made him want to scream out his joy. At the first touch of his finger to her centre Sami bucked up, a sharp orgasm ripping through her, catching them both off guard. He covered her mouth with his own to muffle her moans and his own. She was the most sensuous, passionate woman he'd ever known and she proved it to him over and over, now more so than ever before. Whilst she was still shaking from her unexpected climax he managed to tear his lips from hers, pressing them against her heated skin, shuddering as he tried to control himself in the face of such unbridled ardour, she couldn't make him want her more now if she tried he told himself but he was wrong.

Sami tightened her arms around his neck, drawing herself up so she could whisper in his ear.

"More," she breathed and it was his undoing.

No woman had ever made him feel like this before, so alive, so wild and exposed. He needed to be inside of her like he needed to take his next breath - more even. Later he'd never be sure how he managed to make it to their bedroom with her even though it was only a few steps away but somehow it was managed and they stumbled inside. Her little display for him a few minuted earlier had destroyed whatever self restraint he'd imagined he'd had before and now he just needed to possess her, like she'd possessed him.

Their hands were tearing at each others clothing, both desperate for there to be nothing more between them. He pulled her top over her head and carelessly threw it to one side, uncaring of where it landed. His hands fumbled with her bra, desperate to see her in all her perfection again. He moaned loudly to see how hard her nipples already were, unable to stop himself from latching onto one pale peak and suckling hard.

"EJ!" she cried out, arching her back and thrusting her breast more fully into his mouth, clearly enjoying his ministrations, her hands disappearing into his dark hair to keep him there.

She began to rock her hips against him, panting and moaning and he realised to his pure ecstasy that she was getting ready to climax again. This woman was beyond anything he'd ever experienced before, never having ever had anyone so utterly responsive to his every touch and with such intensity. He grabbed her other breast, pulling rhythmically on her other nipple which he knew was an erogenous zone for her, eager to help her get there quickly, knowing he didn't have much more time left before he lost complete control but unable to pass up the joy of watching her orgasm again. He didn't have long to wait before she let out a broken wail, her back arching and he knew she was climaxing for the second time in ten minutes and he couldn't stand it any longer.

His knees buckled and they were on the ground, her underneath him and he knew for certain that he would die if he couldn't have her right now. There was no hesitation as he entered her, no delicate, tentative renewing of that connection for them. As soon as her legs parted he entered her, almost howling his pleasure at being inside her at last. She was so wet, so hot from her previous climaxes that it was almost too much.

"Oh god!" he sobbed, his hips taking over as he plunged his hardness into her burying himself up to the hilt and feeling more complete than he'd ever been before in his life, "Oh god Samantha!"

She groaned, wrapping her legs around his hips, matching his fervour easily, meeting each of his thrusts with the same abandon he was displaying. Their mutual release raced towards them both, neither one being able to slow it down now. Too soon EJ spasmed, pumping himself into her helplessly and making her climax as well at the sensation. They lay there, panting wildly, him still embedded deep inside her. She clenched around him and made a welcome discovery.

"Still hard," she said with a pleased, sultry look.

"Still _very_ hard," he agreed roughly, nudging her nose with his before giving into her invitation and kissing her deeply.

"My poor boy," she said teasingly when he'd released her mouth and let her speak again, "What can I do to help you out?"

EJ smiled at her mischievous look, feeling the anticipation building in him again already. Sami held his gaze and pushed on his shoulders and he reluctantly complied with her wishes, withdrawing from her. Sami sat up and shakily got to her feet, holding out her hand to him. EJ climbed to his feet as well.

"Oh my," said Sami wide eyed, looking down at his still impressively engorged member, "Still _very_ hard indeed."

She looked up at him and started to walk backwards towards the bed, her eyes inviting him to follow her which he did without hesitation. She turned to face the bed just as she got to it and crawled onto it on her hands and knees, treating him to a very nice rear view. She stopped on the edge of the bed and looked back over her shoulder at him, wiggling her backside at him enticingly, seeing the enraptured expression on his face.

"What are you waiting for EJ," she purred impishly, "A written invitation?"

"Samantha!" he growled, instantly coming up behind her, his hands going to her bottom cheeks and caressing their pale perfection.

He gripped her hips tightly and slowly fed his swollen shaft into her, watching mesmerised as he disappeared inside of her, feeling her taking each new inch of him. Finally he was fully sheathed in her heat and they both groaned. Sami went down on her elbows, causing her walls to tighten even more around him and EJ gave a grunt, wanting to come again already but he valiantly fought the urge.

He pushed on her hips, withdrawing nearly completely from her before shoving himself almost roughly back home into her. Sami groaned her approval and that was all he needed. He started hard and fast, ramming her hips repeatedly back onto him, the tension quickly building between them again. Sweat began to drip off the end of his nose and drop down onto her naked back as he strained away inside of, knowing for certain now that she was going to be the death of him and not caring even a little. He could hear wild grunting off somewhere in the distance and realised it was him, her own cries of pleasure matching his as they sought desperately to bring each other to completion.

His end when it came was raw and almost violent in it's intensity, driving her hard into the mattress, so much so that a part of him worried he might be hurting her but she own sobbing cries of blissful release allayed his fears and he gave himself utterly over to it, feeling his body erupting helplessly into her. EJ collapsed on top of her, no longer able to hold up his own body weight any more.

"EJ," protested Sami with a breathless laugh, wriggling a little under him, "Can't breath."

EJ groaned and somehow managed to with draw from her and roll to one side, his entire body made of jelly it seemed like now. Sami rolled onto her side and moved closer to him. They lay panting beside each other, their bodies drenched in sweat and each other. EJ began to give a little laugh eventually, the sound rumbling up from inside him.

"What?" said Sami unevenly, smiling at him as she still tried to catch her breath, "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking - thank god you didn't meet me at the airport," he said, his voice sounding rough but amused, "We would have been arrested!"

Sami giggled and blushed, rolling in to him and burying her head in his shoulder.

"But it would have been totally worth it," he said, kissing the top of her sweat dampened head.

"Totally," agreed Sami dreamily, nestling into him.

"I love you," said EJ, stroking her back gently, "So much Samantha, sometimes it frightens me. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you."

"You're not going to lose me," she said and then lifted her head from his shoulder and gave him an impish grin, "Statistically speaking I'm more likely to out live you anyway."

"Almost certainly if you keep putting me through my paces like that," he grinned back at her.

"Is that a complaint I'm hearing Mr DiMera?" she asked him in mock horror, "Because if it is…"

She went to move away from him but he rolled over so that she was partially underneath him.

"_Definitely_ not complaining," he told her, inclining his head so he could capture her mouth in a lazy kiss.

He searched her mouth languorously, taking his time, making sure he tasted every inch of her. Sami groaned and moved under him, feeling her body begin to respond yet again even as she felt him stir against her.

"I can't," she groaned her complaint but belied her words by arching up against him and fitting herself more fully against his length.

Her muscles ached from the treatment they'd already received and her core was tender and swollen but despite that she wanted more, wanted him.

"Yes you can sweetheart," he encouraged her, his voice becoming more ragged as his own arousal began to build again.

He kissed his way down her damp neck, licking at the saltiness he found there from their previous encounters.

"I want to see you come again for me sweetheart," he told her huskily, his eyes darkening, "Please baby, I want you so much."

"EJ!" she moaned, her hands going to grasp at his sweat slick back, feeling the oh so familiar throb between her legs starting to take over yet again.

EJ nudged her legs apart, pushing for entry into her heat. Sami bit her lip at the almost painfully good sensation, feeling herself have to stretch to take him. She whimpered and let her head fall back on the bed, closing her eyes against the exquisite painfulness of it all. EJ grunted at the feeling of being encased in her tight heat yet again, knowing he'd never tire of it, no matter how many times they were together like this.

He kissed her again, tenderly, letting her get used to him again and only when he could stand it no longer did he start to move inside her again. Their sweat soaked bodies slide easily against each other as he moved on top of her, back and forth, slowly moving his rapidly swelling shaft in and out of her with deep long, thrusts. They moved unhurriedly against each other - the initial force of their passion spent, now taking time to saviour each tiny sensation and touch of the other.

"God," EJ muttered through clench teeth, feeling the need to go faster building in him, "Oh god Samantha, so good - you get me so hard."

"EJ!" she gasped, meeting each of his quickening thrusts easily, "Please!"

"Are you going to come for me sweetheart?" he groaned, feeling her starting to tighten around him with each thrust.

"You know I am!" she groaned helplessly, "Oh god EJ, more, please more!"

He pushed her legs wider apart, deepening the penetration for them both. Sami didn't feel like her body could take any more pleasure, it was just saturated with what he'd done to her already and what he was still doing. She wanted that release but her body had come too many times already to make it easy this time. It hovered just out of her reach and with each passing second she became more desperate for the respite that an orgasm would give her. EJ felt her struggling to get there and slipped his hand between their heaving bodies, finding her already swollen nub and beginning to rub it even as he increased the force and depth of his thrusts.

Sami's eyes rolled back in her head, sharp sensations shooting throughout her body as he drove her ever closer to that precipice. EJ felt her hands clutching frantically at his back, her nails breaking the skin but he couldn't feel it. He could feel himself swelling one last time and then he gave a strangled cry, releasing himself into her in jerky thrusts that made lifted her backside off the bed with each forceful drive. The whole time he somehow managed to keep his finger on her nub and now that he was spent he began to pinch and pull on it harder, seeing she was still yet to get there.

"Yes, yes, yes!" she began to chant incoherently, her eyes squeezed shut as she could finally feel her end approaching, the promise of relief nearly realised, "Oh… oh… oh…"

EJ captured one of her breasts with his hand, feeding her nipple into her mouth and suckling hard and that was it for Sami. She came with a force that made her bit down so hard on her lip that she tasted blood, the sensations agonizing in it's intensity as she begged him to stop, almost certain she was going to die from what he was doing to her. She lay there, a trembling, heaving mess underneath him and EJ almost swooned at how beautiful she was.

"I love you," he groaned, allowing himself to collapse back down on her, finally releasing her from the torment of his hands, "So much."

Sami buried her hands in his sweat soaked hair, wondering if she'd ever be able to walk again after today.

"I love you too," she told him weakly, exhaustion creeping into every part of her body now.

EJ moved so she wasn't taking all of his weight, rolling on his side and spooning himself against her.

"Sleep," she mumbled, her eyes already closing.

He fitted himself more fully against her, his arm draped over her stomach.

"Sleep," he agreed tiredly, feeling like he hadn't slept in a week.

It was probably an hour or so later that EJ woke to the sound of running water and he blinked blearily, trying to get his bearings. His aching muscles soon reminded him of the afternoons activities and he smile contentedly to himself and stretched lazily. He quickly realised that Sami must be in the shower and slipped out of bed and walked into the ensuite, unconcerned with his nakedness. She'd just finished her shower and was towelling herself dry.

"Well hello there Sleeping Beauty," she teased him, "Awake at last I see."

"Shouldn't there be a kiss somewhere in there if I'm meant to be the real Sleeping Beauty?" he pouted and she laughed, walking over to him and going up on her tip toes she kissed him, a lingering, deep kiss.

"How was that?" she asked with a smile.

"Too short," he complained, reaching out to draw her close to him but she wriggled free.

"No time," she told him, slapping away his hands playfully.

"Do we have to pick up the twins?" asked EJ, reluctantly letting her be and watching as she pulled on her underwear, doing up her bra as they talked.

"Not until after five," she told him, pulling a white blouse on.

"But it is barely past three now," he objected, giving her a winsome smile, "Plenty of time."

EJ began to move towards her but she shook her head at him warningly.

"You stay there mister," she said and wagging a good-natured at finger at him, "I've got a meeting I've got to go to and I don't need you distracting me."

"A meeting?" asked EJ in confusion.

"With Chris," she explained, beginning to do up the buttons on her blouse, "We've got some more last minute details to go over for the fund raiser."

EJ's eyes narrowed, completely unwilling to share her with that man at any time but certainly not right now. Sami had turned to face the mirror over the bathroom vanity and was finger combing out her wet hair.

"Can't you cancel?" he asked her, coming up behind her and meeting her gaze in the mirror.

"No," she said laughingly, "I can't - it's important."

"How important?" he asked her, pressing his naked length against her back and leaning down and kissing her exposed neck, "This important?"

"EJ," she murmured the protest but it didn't sound very convincing.

He reached around to her front, slipping his hand down the front of her blouse and into her bra, fondling the softness he found there, pinching at her nipple.

"This important?" he asked her huskily and Sami felt herself becoming wet again and she shook her head hopelessly - would she ever be able to get enough of this man?

"EJ I can't, I have to go," she groaned but even as she said it she knew it was a lie, she wasn't going anywhere until he did something about the ache he'd just started in her body.

"What can't you do?" he asked her silkily, the hand that wasn't at her breast going to her panties, his long feeling skimming up between her legs and feeling the wetness already pooling there for him.

"This," he muttered, his lips against her neck as he hooked his fingers through the delicate material and gave a hard yank, ripping the lace from her body, "Is this what you can't do Samantha?"

Sami gasped, quivering against him as she felt him tear her panties off her body, her body tightening in anticipation now. Dark brown eyes met bright blue ones in the mirror, hers wide and expectant, his heavy and predatory. The hand that had torn of her panties moved up her back now, under the white blouse she was still wearing, pushing on her back gently and getting her to lean forward more, over the vanity bench. Still moving painfully slowly EJ's hand drifted back down along one hip and down her leg, hooking itself behind one knee and pulling it up unhurriedly, bringing it to rest on top of the vanity top. Sami held her breath, waiting for his next move and trembling with expectation.

"Is it this important?" he prompted her, his voice low and she groaned when she felt him rub his swollen thickness against her bottom cheeks.

"No!" she gasped pleadingly, "Please EJ!"

"More?" he teased her huskily and she nodded her head mutely, desperate for him to keep going.

EJ pushed her further forward, angling her backside up even more and pushed on the leg up on the vanity, opening her wider for him. He placed his purple tip at her opening, leaning right over until he was bent over her, his lips at her ears. He thrust into her, hard and deep and she moaned at the way he stretched and filled her so completely.

"Mine," he growled possessively, both hands going to her lace covered breasts and squeezing them forcefully in time with his thrusts, "Mine!"

"EJ!" she sobbed, feeling him possess her utterly and loving every moment of it.

EJ began to plunge into her harder, determined to mark his territory. Sami's knuckles whitened as she gripped onto the basin, finding herself intensely aroused at how forcefully he was driving into her, feeling like he was claiming her somehow and responding to it on some very deep feminine level. She moaned her encouragements to him, begging him not to stop and he willingly obliged.

**ooooOOOOoooo**

Chris sat in his office, checking his watch for probably the tenth time in the last five minutes. It was over an hour past when Sami said she would meet him. He was beginning to entertain the notion that she might actually not show up. He grimaced and picked up the phone, cancelling the reservations he'd made at the restaurant that he'd planned to take her to and thus take full advantage of the fact that her husband was out of town for one more night.

"Crap," he muttered under his breath to the empty room, "Time for Plan B I suppose."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter EIGHT**

Sami had all of her bridal books spread out on the coffee table in front of her, pouring over them, trying to make her mind up. It was only two months away to the wedding and she hadn't even made all the keys decisions yet. It always seemed a bit tricky to find the time nowadays, the twins were demanding of her time through out the day, EJ was demanding of her time through out the night. Sami couldn't help the little smile that came to her lips at the thought. She was definitely not complaining about that but as fun as it was it wasn't getting their wedding planned. It also didn't help that she was trying to make the whole thing a surprise for EJ and had to work on things when he wasn't around.

She was also glad that in another week the charity ball would be over and done with so she wouldn't have to do quite so much running around with that either. It had ended up taking up far more of her time then she'd thought it would but it was for a good cause so Sami didn't mind too much. Chris had been very appreciative of all of her hard work and she didn't want to let him or the hospital down. Sami wondered idly why Chris wasn't married - he was good looking and charming - she'd have to think about someone to set him up with when she had a free moment. Perhaps invite him to the wedding and have him sitting next to Stephanie or one of her other cousins… possibly not Chelsea though.

"So," said Sami out loud and John looked up from the newspaper he was reading in his favourite chair, "Indoors or outdoors - what do you think John."

John looked around.

"Indoors," he said flatly, "We're definitely indoors - you can tell - no sky."

And then he went back to his newspaper.

Sami blew out a frustrated breath.

"I meant for the wedding John," she said through gritted teeth.

"What's the difference?" asked John, looking up at her quizzically, "Does one make you more married than the other?"

"No," said Sami with a frown, "You're just as married whether you get married inside in a church or outdoors."

"Well there you go then," said John as though that settled it.

"There what goes then?" asked Sami in confusion.

"You're still married so it doesn't matter," he explained to her as though she was a backward child, "So just pick one."

"You've been a big help," said Sami ironically, "Thanks for that."

"Happy to help," he said blankly, returning to his paper and seeming to miss her irony.

Sami looked over at the twins who were happily playing in their play pen together and inclined her head at John, rolling her eyes, inviting them to share the joke with her which they obligingly did, laughing at Mommy's funny face pulling.

"I'd really like to have an outdoor wedding," muttered Sami, talking to herself now, "But September is the beginning of Fall and it might be getting cold or it could even rain."

"Then have an indoor one," sighed John, wondering why this was seeming to be so difficult for her.

"All my other weddings have been in a church," she said ruefully, "It would be nice to do something different and completely leave behind the bad memories."

"Were they that bad?" asked John curiously, no one having actually filled him on the exact details of all of his step daughters wedding attempts.

"Let's see," said Sami ironically, "In my last wedding three people attempted to shoot my husband and one managed it… and that was probably my most successful wedding to date. Does that answer your question John? All of my other weddings either didn't happen and/or had some form of ritual humiliation involved in them… or the police. I just want this wedding to be different from all of my other ones."

"Well I don't see what you're worrying about," said John with a shrug, "You don't have to do too much to improve on your record, do you? I mean anything that isn't a blood bath is pretty much a win I'd say."

Sami gave him a grim look, unimpressed by his choice of words but carrying on anyway.

"But I want it to be perfect this time round," worried Sami, "EJ doesn't remember a whole lot from the last one because of the shooting so I want it to be absolutely perfect - no being late for the church, no catering disasters, no bridal gown malfunctions - it needs to be perfect."

"Why?" asked John, "What's so great about perfection? Isn't the important thing that you and EJ renew your vows?"

"Well yes," said Sami with a frown, "But every bride wants her day to go with out a hitch - it's only natural."

"It seems highly unrealistic if you ask me," countered John, "These weddings seem like complicated things to me so to think that nothing will go wrong is highly doubtful."

"But nothing can go wrong!" wailed Sami, "It has to be perfect!"

"In my opinion my nephew isn't a fan of perfection otherwise he wouldn't have married you," said John flatly.

"John!" said Sami, insulted.

"What?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at her, "Are you telling me you are perfect?"

"Of… of course not," said Sami, flustered, "But… you don't have to say it to my face!"

"Samantha," said John calmly, "If you know and I know it, what does it matter? But my point is that Elvis isn't interested in perfection. He wants all the crazy that comes with being married to you and frankly I think he'd be bored to tears with perfection - I know I would be. You're unique Sami, both you and my nephew are and your wedding should be unique as well, not subscribing to some bland idea that society has about what perfection is."

Sami looked at him cautiously, wide eyed at his words.

"What?" he asked her when he saw how she was looking at him.

"Is that it?" she asked him warily, "Is that all you're going to say?"

"Yes," said John blankly, "Why?"

"It's just that you usually say something comforting and then ruin it all by saying something totally tactless at the end of it," Sami told him cautiously.

"Hm," said John stoically, "Is that what I do?"

"Usually," said Sami, "But this is good John. I think we're on to something here. From now on just end your conversations a sentence or two before you mean to and you might actually be able to be let out in public by yourself!"

"Well," said John dryly, returning back to his paper, "That sounds just _perfect_ doesn't it?"

Later on that day EJ walked into the DiMera mansion after having finished a quick gym work out. He thought he'd duck home and check on Sami and the twins before going back to work later on in the afternoon. Discovering no one downstairs he walked up to the second level to find the twins fast asleep. He checked in on them being careful not to wake them and then wandered out into the hallway.

The sound of the shower running coming from he and Sami's bedroom and made him smile. Looks like his wife was taking a quick shower while the twins were asleep. EJ walked into the bedroom, stripping off his black t-shirt. No sense in wasting water was there he mused to himself with a wicked grin and besides, he was all hot and sweaty from the gym so a shower sounded like a good idea right about now.

He walked into the steam filled bathroom - Sami did love her hot showers - and quickly shucked his pants and joggers. He could see Sami's hazy outline through the shower door, her blonde hair darkened with the water. EJ slide open the shower door, a fresh wave of steam greeting him as well as Sami's naked back.

"Hey there beautiful," he said huskily, putting his hand out and touching her shoulder, "Room for one more?"

She started and turned round, eyes wide with shock which EJ quickly mirrored.

"Oh god Marlena!" he said in horror, quickly withdrawing his hand and taking a step back, "Um… sorry… sorry!"

EJ beat a hasty retreat and turning round, putting a hand up to cover his eyes.

"EJ!" she gasped in dismay, grabbing the sliding shower door and slamming it shut quickly.

"Um… sorry," said EJ again, pulling a face and bending down to pick up his clothes and getting the heck out of there.

EJ escaped out into the bedroom and grimaced to himself. What was it about him exposing himself to women out of the blue he wondered, thinking back to his first meeting with Sami. He hadn't minded that of course but this was going to be potentially a little more awkward. The sound of the water being turned off signalled the end of Marlena's shower and EJ wondered if he should go downstairs or stay there. Whatever his location was he decided that it wasn't going to make the upcoming conversation any less awkward he decided so he stayed put. Marlena emerged from the bathroom a minute later in a bath robe and she gave him a tight smile.

"EJ," she said calmly.

"Marlena," he said, returning her greeting hastily, "I am _so_ sorry about that, I thought you were Samantha otherwise…"

"Of course you did EJ," she interrupted him smoothly, fixing a smile on her face, "Sami asked me to look after the twins while she had to go to run some errands. I needed to take a shower and the baby monitor doesn't seem to work very well in my bathroom so I thought you wouldn't mind me using yours."

"Of course not," said EJ, rubbing the back of his neck and giving her a apologetic look, "Samantha and I really appreciate how you help out with the twins - it's a god send, it really is. And I shouldn't have barged in like that…"

"It was a perfectly understandable mistake," said Marlena, the pink in her cheeks not solely the result of her hot shower, "Just one of those things, it's fine EJ."

"Thank you," he grimaced.

"So we don't need to talk about this again," Marlena prompted him, "Right?"

"Absolutely," said EJ, "We'll just chalk it up to a lesson learned."

"Yes," smiled Marlena, "Well, are you home for long?"

"Actually I have to be getting back to work," said EJ apologetically, "Is it still alright for you to look after Ali and Johnny until Samantha gets back?"

"Of course," said Marlena easily, "I'm always happy to spend some time with my grandchildren but I'd better go and get changed now if you don't mind listening out for them for a minute?"

"Certainly," said EJ, stepping to one side so she could pass by, "And again, Marlena…"

"Not needing to talk about it again remember EJ," she told him as she walked past him.

"Right," he said, "Of course."

Marlena left the room and EJ had to hand it to the woman, she certainly knew how to keep her cool under pressure. EJ walked back into the twins room to find them both awake and happily lying there, chatting away to one another.

"Hey there my darlings," he smiled at them, standing between their cots, "Awake I see."

They both sat up then, arms outstretched, begging to be picked up which EJ happily obliged, scooping them up, one in each arm.

"So," EJ said to them, going and sitting in the rocking chair with them both, "Funny story kids - Daddy just saw your Nanna naked… so who want's to tell Mummy for me eh? Johnny… Ali… no?"

EJ gave a resigned sigh.

"Guess it's going to be me then," he said ruefully, "Something tells me that is a talk that isn't going to go well."

Later that evening EJ and Sami were in the bedroom, preparing for bed.

"So how was your day?" called out Sami as she collected some clothes from the twins closet to pack their diaper bag for the next day.

"Oh the usual," said EJ, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "Met with some clients, went to the gym, saw your mother naked."

"What??" screeched Sami, suddenly standing at the door of the bedroom, looking at him wide eyed.

"Oh didn't I tell you?" asked EJ innocently, "I've got a few more clients on my books now that…"

"Not the first part!" interrupted Sami impatiently, "The last part - what did you say about my mother?"

"Funny story actually darling," said EJ, looking up at her with an engaging smile, "I finished my workout early and thought I'd duck home to spend some time with my beautiful wife only to find that she was having a shower… so I decided to join her. And here's the amusing part - turns out it wasn't you… but your mother."

"You saw my mother _naked_?" squeaked Sami in horror.

"If it helps any sweetheart she also saw me naked," he offered up helpfully.

"EJ!" Sami's voice was getting higher with each sentence, soon she'd be talking in a register that only dogs could hear, 'Wh… what did she say, what did you say?"

"Well we hardly stopped for a chat," said EJ ruefully.

"But… but… what was she doing having a shower during the day?" asked Sami in bewilderment, horrified at the thought of her husband and her mother like that!

"You know, what with all the naked in the room I really didn't think to ask," said EJ with a apologetic look.

"This place has over twenty rooms and four bathrooms!" choked out Sami, "How _is_ it that we can't all keep out of each other's way?!"

"It does seem surprising," mused EJ, almost to himself.

The rest of that conversation didn't go particularly well as EJ had predicted and the next morning Sami was still far from over it.

"We have to move out!" she announced dramatically, "We can't stay here any longer EJ!"

"Samantha," said EJ calmly, spooning another mouthful of porridge into Ali's mouth, "Don't you think you're over reacting somewhat sweetheart?"

"You saw my mother naked EJ!" she hissed, waving her arms around wildly, "How is that over reacting?!"

"Whoa!" said John, who'd chosen that exact moment to walk through the door, "You've seen Blondie naked?!"

EJ sighed and rolled his eyes, Marlena was not going to be happy with him.

"I haven't even done that yet!" he said, looking very put out.

"Technically you have," EJ pointed out calmly, "You've been married a long time and have children together."

"It doesn't count if you can't remember it!" he pouted, coming to sit down at the kitchen table across from them.

"Well yes," said EJ dryly, "I guess you have a point there."

"Can we get back to the point please," said Sami, shooting John a frustrated look, "We can't stay here EJ - I mean, what am I meant to say to her?"

"Did you see Blondie naked too?" asked John in real horror, completely put out now, "What is going on here?"

"Eww John!" said Sami, wrinkling her nose in distaste, "Of course not!"

"I've told you Samantha," said EJ patiently, "Marlena and I have discussed it, I apologised and everything is fine. You really don't need to make this into more than it really is."

"You know I went and watched people dressed up as cats singing and dancing right?" said John as though their discussion wasn't even happening, "And nothing! I didn't even get to first place with her!"

"Actually I think the expression is first _base_ Uncle John," EJ corrected him.

"Well that makes no sense at all," said John blankly, "Base, what base?"

"It's a baseball term," explained EJ, "You know - first base, second base… home run."

"What does baseball have to do with having sex?" said John stoically, "I think you're wrong - do you even play the game where you come from?"

"Well it's not very big in the UK granted," said EJ with an amused look on his face, "But I'm still practically positive that the expression you were looking for is still first base."

"Stop it!" said Sami, "Stop talking about bases and my mother!"

"I wasn't," protested John and pointed an accusing finger at EJ, "The guy who saw her naked was."

He then stopped and thought for a moment.

"Wait a minute - there are four bases in baseball," said John, thinking aloud, "If you're right nephew maybe I have gotten to first base with Blondie after all. What does _first base _entail exactly?"

"Well I think it's generally accepted as being kissing," said EJ thoughtfully.

"Oh yeah, then I've definitely made it to first base," said John happily, "So what's second?"

EJ opened his mouth to answer him but Sami forestalled him.

"Stop talking both of you right now!" she practically shouted, her cheeks bright red with a horrified embarrassment that the men didn't seem to be sharing, "Or I'm going to be doing some serious damage to you both!"

Sami waved what she was holding around wildly between them, a crazed look in her eye. John looked at what she was threatening them with and then back at Sami.

"It's a spork," he said flatly.

"Correction Uncle," said EJ, trying his best to hide his smile and not quite succeeding, "It's a _plastic_ spork. Sweetheart, I'm not entirely sure how much damage you think you're going to be able to do with that particular weapon of choice."

Sami leaned over the table and took turns at glaring menacingly at them both.

"I'm highly motivated," she bit out and the men exchanged looks.

"No more talking about bases or nakedness or my Mom, got that?" she told them, eyes narrowing warningly at them both, "And you…"

She jabbed the spork at EJ to make her point.

"One more word from you and so help me EJ," she threatened him, "You are never going to be allowed to even stand outside the ball park let alone take one step onto the field ever again if you keep encouraging him…"

Sami jabbed the spork towards John now.

"… in his crazy!" she finished, "This conversation is _over_!"

"What?" she said challengingly when she saw the look on his face.

"The list of things we can't talk about it getting pretty long nowadays," he said expressionlessly, "I'm going to have to start writing them down soon so I don't forget."

"EJ!" said Sami in exasperation, looking at her husband to help her out, "Would you do something please!"

EJ pulled out a pen from his coat pocket and leaned over to grab some note paper from the counter near the phone and handed them to his uncle.

"I suggest you write small and leave plenty of room," he advised John straight faced, "I have a feeling there are going to be more things to be adding to the list in the near future."

"Oh!" Sami made a vexed noise at the two, frustrated that the two men weren't taking her seriously and that EJ was even laughing at her outrage.

_Honestly_, if she didn't have to worry about what she was going to do with the bodies she could spork them both to death right now and be happy doing it!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter NINE**

It was the next day, just before lunch and EJ was making a phone call.

"Right yes," he said, nodding to himself, The Black Swan - yes I know it, it's by the docks isn't it? Thank you Mr Newman - you've been most helpful."

EJ hung up the phone and smiled to himself.

"Mr DiMera, Mrs Jorgensen is here for her appointment," Marcie's voice came over the intercom.

"Thank you Marcie," he said calmly, straightening up from where he'd been leaning on his desk, "I'll be right there."

EJ straightened his tie and jacket, moving towards his office door to greet his client.

"Emily," he smiled as he walked out and saw the perfectly turned out older woman standing there by Marcie's desk, "How lovely to see you as always."

He walked over to her and gave her cheek a kiss.

"Hello dear boy," she smiled back at him, "As charming as ever I see."

"How could anyone be anything but around such a vision," said EJ, returning her smile easily.

Emily Jorgensen had become his client even after Sami's outburst at their first meeting… or maybe because of it. There was a bit of the mischief maker to the older woman that EJ had come to enjoy very much since he'd been working for her. She was intelligent and witty and with a cheeky sense of humour that EJ appreciated.

"So how is that beautiful feisty wife yours EJ?" she asked him as he ushered her into his office.

"More beautiful and feistier ever day I'm very please to report Emily," said EJ with a grin.

"You're a very lucky man," said Emily affectionately, seeing the tender expression he always had on his face when he spoke about his wife.

"And don't I know it," said EJ happily, "Did I tell you that Samantha and I are renewing our vows on September 1st?"

"Well that sounds lovely," said Emily, "I'm sure it will be quite the event if Sami is involved."

"She does have a way of attracting trouble," agreed EJ, a devilish look in his eye, "It's one of my most favourite things about her."

"I can see that being a draw card for you," laughed Emily, "It would be a terrible thing indeed to live a boring life."

"I don't think that is ever going to be a problem for Samantha and I Emily," said EJ ruefully.

"Glad to hear it," she said.

"Now you must come to the wedding - I absolutely insist," said EJ, "I can't have my favourite client not in attendance now can I?"

"Oh EJ," she laughed, "If I thought this hip of mine was up to it I'd be giving that Sami a run for her money when it came to you."

"Well if anyone could tempt me away from Samantha it would be you Emily," smiled EJ.

"Rogue," she reproached him teasingly, "You'll do yourself a damage with that silver tongue of yours EJ DiMera."

"I only speak the truth," said EJ, feigning a wounded look.

"A most unhappy affliction for a lawyer," she said wryly.

EJ gave a little shout of laughter at her dig.

"Emily, you're a treasure," he grinned at her.

"Well don't bury me quite yet dear," she said with an arch of an eyebrow, "There's life in the old girl yet."

"Of course there is," said EJ firmly, "And to that end I thought we could have our meeting over lunch today. You look far too lovely today for me to selfishly keep you to myself."

"Lunch with an gorgeous, attentive much younger man," mused Emily worriedly, "What would people think? All those people looking at us and talking."

Emily gave EJ an impish look.

"Well what are you waiting for," she said to EJ, "I hate it when people aren't gossiping about me."

EJ grinned and offered her his arm which she took with an answering smile.

"Excellent," he said happily, "I was thinking about going to The Pearl - it's seafood is simply outstanding. Do you know it - it's on the docks - directly across from The Black Swan hotel?"

"I haven't eaten there in years," she laughed, "It sounds perfect."

Chris Jones sat in the restaurant area of The Black Swan and checked his watch again. Sami DiMera should be joining him any minute now for lunch and if it all went as he'd planned, a whole lot more. He put his hand in his jacket and felt the room key for the room he'd just booked in the same hotel he'd chosen for them to eat at.

Admittedly this one hadn't been as easy as past dalliances to woo into his bed but he was confident of a good outcome today. Chris had always preferred to pursue married women. It was easier - they had some fun but he knew that there were no expectations at the end of it and he could just walk away when things got a bit too messy. Married women were such easy pickings too, it was almost wasteful to not take what was so obviously on offer.

Take Sami for instance.

Married to a spoiled rich kid who had been given everything in his life on a silver platter. Chris could tell that he was all talk and no action. Chris had EJ's number as soon as they met. A spineless, self obsessed wanna be with nothing to recommend him other than some average looks and a fancy sounding accent which didn't even sound real to Chris anyway. A woman like Sami need far more man than that momma's boy could ever give her… which was where Chris came in.

He'd been very attentive to Sami and she'd lapped it up - probably starving from any kind of attention at home he guessed. She was obviously attracted to him - laughed at his jokes, smiled at him in _that_ way and never seemed to mind all the extra time that Chris had set up for them to have to spend together. No, Sami was ripe for the picking just about now. He had planned to put his plan into action when the freakishly tall Brit had been out of town but then he'd had that pepper allergy thing happen and he'd had to put it on hold. The Charity Ball was on Friday and now was going to be as good as time as any to make his move. He looked up as the lovely blonde entered the restaurant and got up from the table he'd reserved for them and hurried over to meet her.

"Sami," he said happily, coming up to her and kissing her cheek, "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Sorry," she said a little frazzled, "Am I late - the twins were being difficult when I left them with my grandma."

"Not at all," said Chris smoothly, guiding her to the table he'd selected for them in a secluded out of the way corner.

Sami looked the table for two with surprise.

"Oh," she said, looking at Chris questioningly, "I thought you said Verna and Lacey were going to be here to - that you wanted to take us all out to lunch to thank us for all the work we've been doing for the Charity Ball? Not that you needed to of course - we were all happy to do it."

"They just rang," said Chris, "Couldn't make it unfortunately."

"Well we can make it for another day if you want," said Sami helpfully, "I don't mind."

"We're here now," said Chris easily, "Why don't we just have some lunch anyway?"

"I guess," said Sami with a bit of a shrug, "I have to admit, I am kind of hungry."

"I like a healthy appetite in a woman," smiled Chris, his blue eyes full of suggestion but Sami missed it, already walking towards the table.

Once they were settled and their orders were taken Sami suddenly remembered.

"Oh Chris," she said with a pleased smile, "I got the flowers you sent me - they were lovely but you really shouldn't have."

"Well I just want to make sure that you know how much I appreciate all the work you've been doing for the hospital," he said, resting his elbows on the table and leaning towards her.

"The florist must love you sending flowers to every one on the committee," she laughed, taking a sip of her water.

"Hm," said Chris non-committedly, it not really being the case as Sami was the only woman he'd sent flowers to but that thought hadn't seemed to occur to her.

"You know Sami," said Chris, his voice warm and sincere sounding, "I've really enjoyed getting to know you these last couple of months."

"You too," she said easily, "It's been nice - I don't tend to make friends too easily."

"I find that hard to believe," said Chris arching an eyebrow, "Someone as beautiful and intelligent as you - how can that be?"

"Believe me Chris," she said dryly, "There's a lot about me that you don't know."

"Really?" he asked, intrigued, "Well, I'd like to."

"Trust me," she said stoically, "You wouldn't."

"Come on," he teased her, "You're a respectable member of society, a wife and mother - how bad can it be?"

"I think I can safely say that's the first time anyone has used those words in one sentence when talking about me," she said and gave a humourless laugh.

"Are you telling me you're a bit of a bad girl Sami?" he asked her, giving her an intrigued look.

Sami was saved from answering by the arrival of their food. They chatted throughout lunch, Chris continually trying to steer the topic of conversation on to more personal subjects and having limited success. But Sami was smiling at him encouraging and laughing out loud at some of his little jokes so all the signals he was getting were definitely very favourable.

"This has been really nice Chris," said Sami with a smile when their plates had been cleared, "Sometimes I'm running around so much I feel like I hardly ever get to stop and just do something like this. Especially when I don't have to be picking porridge and mashed banana out of my hair at the end of a meal."

"I guess you don't get much me time hm?" asked Chris, leaning towards her again.

"I'm not complaining," she shrugged with a little smile, "I love my children but with two of them, it can be pretty time consuming and with EJ at work throughout the day now, well…"

She trailed off then and looked a little sad, wishing she'd been more appreciative to EJ when he'd been around all the time but she'd been stubbornly too proud… and frightened of letting him get too close at the time. Chris saw her expression and mistook the reason for the regretful look on her face.

"You're feeling a bit lonely?" he filled in for her.

Sami looked up at him, a little surprised at his choice of words.

"Sami," said Chris, reaching out a hand and laying it over the top of hers, seeing his chance and taking it, "You have to know that I think you are a remarkable, beautiful woman."

"Um," said Sami with a little frown, "Ah… thank you Chris, that's very kind of you."

"I just hate to see you not being appreciated the way a woman like you should be," he continued on, beginning to stroked the back of her hand now.

"Ah Chris?" said Sami, starting to feel uneasy now.

"I'm extremely attracted to you Sami and I know you feel the same way," continued on Chris confidently, his voice low and seductive sounding now, "I think we could be good together you and I."

"I'm married!" said Sami in growing horror, still hardly able to believe this was happening.

"And I'm fine with that," said Chris, leaning in close to her now, his face close to hers, "We can be discrete Sami, trust me, no one ever has to know. It can be our little secret."

He moved in then to seal the deal with a kiss and Sami jerked her head back but didn't have much room to escape his advances as the both they were in was little and designed for intimacy.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she hissed the question, pulling her hand out from underneath him, "Get away from me!"

"Let's not do the whole coy thing this late in the game Sami," said Chris, a little taken aback but undeterred, "You knew exactly where this has been heading from day one so don't act all innocent and outraged now."

"Are you kidding me?" asked Sami in disbelief.

"Look," he said, "You've played hard to get and I respect you for that but I think the time for games is over. I've booked us a room upstairs, why don't you and I go back to the room, we can have a few drinks and let nature take it's course. You know you want to."

"I'll tell you want I want to do right now…" bit out Sami, furious at him and even more upset with herself for being so stupid and not seeing this coming, "I want to punch your lights out - that's what I want to do. How dare you say those things to me! I am a happily married woman and I would never cheat on my husband, I love him!"

"Right," he scoffed, leaning back now, beginning to think there might have been the slightest chance that he'd misjudged the situation from the way she was looking at him, "You _love_ him."

"I do!" she hissed, "More than I've loved anyone else in the world other than my children and if you think I'm going to sit here and listen to some sleazy worm cast aspersions on a love that he is too shallow and soulless to ever understand than you've got another thing coming!"

"Well it seems I've misjudged you Sami," said Chris, his pride wounded, "Here I was thinking you were a little bit more than one of those pathetic women finding their happiness in being their husbands doormat."

"Oh right!" she said disdainfully, "And you just wanted me to come up to your room so we could discuss politics! You're disgusting Chris - I can't believe how blind I've been about you!"

"Excuse me sir."

Both of them had been so involved in their growing argument that they hadn't even noticed the waiter approaching them.

"Yes!" snapped Chris, thoroughly put out now.

"I'm sorry sir," said the waiter apologetically, "But the card you gave me didn't clear - do you have another?"

"There is plenty of money in that account," scowled Chris, "Try it again."

"I have sir, three times," the waiter informed him.

"Show me," he ordered him rudely and got up, following the man back to the cashier area with Sami following behind, happy to be out of there.

The waiter put the card through one more time and actually showed Chris the invalid account on the machine. Grumbling to himself Chris got out his Visa card and handed it to the man but it was very quickly handed back to him when the same problem occurred.

"This is ridiculous!" insisted Chris in frustration, "I have never had any problem with either of these accounts before - I don't know what is going on here!"

"I'll pay," said Sami, just wanting to leave now.

"No," said Chris angrily, "You won't - I'm going to ring my bank and sort this out."

Sami blew out a noisy, unimpressed breath wishing she could just walk away but feeling bad about the restaurant losing out on their money if Chris couldn't come through in the end. Chris was on his cell now, talking to his bank and getting angrier by the minute.

"What do you mean my accounts are frozen?" he practically yelled the question at the poor unfortunate on the other end of the phone, "Why? What? What audit - I haven't been told that I'm being audited - shouldn't someone have informed me? What do you mean discrepancy - what kind of discrepancy… I want to talk to your superior, right now!"

Sami gave a resigned shake of her head and smiled warmly at the waiter.

"I'd like to pay with cash," she said politely above the sound of Chris' increasingly angry exchange with the other person on the phone, "I assume that is alright?"

"Of course madam," said the waiter, "Thank you."

EJ held the door open for Emily as they exited The Pearl restaurant together.

"Well you were right EJ," she said, "That clam chowder was delicious."

"Ah," he said, falling into step beside her and offering her his arm again as they walked, "If you think that was good then you'll have to come to Samantha's grandparents pub - now that is good chowder. You'll have to join Samantha and I for dinner one night there."

"I'd like that," she said.

EJ looked across the road and recognised Chris' flashy sports car sitting out the front of The Black Swan. A man was just climbing out of it and shutting the door before crossing the road to EJ's side of the street. The man and EJ exchanged brief looks, both of their expressions carefully blank before the man walked off in the opposite direction, up town.

"Oh look EJ," Emily said suddenly, "Isn't that Samantha?"

EJ looked down at Emily and then across the street to see Sami and Chris emerging from The Black Swan, the other man still on the phone and waving his arms around wildly now.

"So it is," said EJ sounding surprised, "Isn't it a small world?"

"Indeed," said Emily wryly, looking up at her escort shrewdly, thinking that the clam chowder she'd had wasn't the only fishy thing on the menu all of a sudden.

Sami looked at Chris with disgust as he continued to berate the person he was talking to, completely fed up now.

"I'm going," she told him flatly when he finally hung up.

"I'm being audited!" he said in agitation, ignoring her statement completely, "The idiots have frozen my accounts - what am I meant to do now?"

"My but that sounds unfortunate," said EJ coming up behind them with Emily still on his arm.

"EJ!" said Sami happily, so pleased to see her husband, "And Mrs Jorgensen, how nice to see you."

"Emily dear," she reminded her firmly, "You promised you'd call me Emily remember."

"Of course," said Sami with a smile, "Emily - how are you?"

"Very well thank you," she said, "I've just been whisked away by your husband for a lovely lunch date."

"Lucky you," murmured Sami, holding EJ's gaze and feeling the usual quickening of her pulse whenever he was around her.

"But you've been out to lunch too I see," said EJ, smiling at Chris warmly, "Hello Chris - good to see you again. Can I introduce my dear friend Emily Jorgensen to you - Emily, this is Chris Jones. He's the PR rep for the hospital and he and Samantha have been working on the upcoming Charity Ball together."

"Oh yes," smiled Emily, "I received an invitation to that, or at least my money did."

She them an impish look at that.

"I hope we'll see you there Emily," said Sami.

"Yes," said EJ, "Samantha has been working very hard for the cause, hasn't she Chris?"

"Yes," muttered Chris distractedly, still thinking about his money problems, "She's been a big help."

Just then Sami tilted her head and gave a confused look over Chris' shoulder.

"Is that your car Chris?" she asked him with a frown.

"What?" he said, turning around to see what she was talking about.

Chris made a horrified choking sound at the sight of his beloved sports car starting to roll down the hill he'd parked it on, just a short distance from where they were standing.

"My car!" he cried out in a panic, watching it pick up speed as it gained momentum, heading with increasing inevitability towards the docks… and the ocean at the end of it.

Chris suddenly started to bolt down the road, madly chasing after his runaway vehicle. He managed to catch it up but could only grab onto its' back bumper and had no chance of stopping it that way. Unfortunately for Chris the car had a completely clear and unrestricted run to the end of the docks - one it took full advantage off, hitting the end of the dock with significant speed and launching quite majestically into the waiting waters.

"Noo!" he moaned in anguish, as his incredibly expensive sports car gracefully sank beneath the waves, "NOOOO!"

Chris dropped to his knees in utter dismay watching it disappear into the depths - numb with the shock of it all. EJ and the others had caught him up by now and were just in time to see it sink completely out of sight, only a trail of bubbles testifying to have ever having been there at all.

"Ohh," said EJ sounding most sympathetic, "Unlucky."

Chris looked up at him and then struggled to his feet, trying to work out what the hell was going on - had he run over a black cat on the way here.

"Excuse me sir."

Chris turned round to see a uniformed police officer standing there.

"Thank god!" he exclaimed, "Officer, I need…"

"Sorry sir," the officer interrupted him, "But are you Chris Jones?"

"Yes," said Chris weakly, looking at the man nervously all of a sudden, "Why do you ask?"

"Your name has been given as a person of interest in an insurance scam," said the officer, "A complaint has been made by a Ms Clare Simpson that you tried to sell her an insurance policy that wasn't legitimate."

"Do I look like an insurance salesman?" said Chris in agitation, "I've never heard of the woman - I work as the PR rep for the hospital - you can check!"

"I know sir," replied the officer, "That is how I found you here - I checked out your name and found your place of work. They said you'd be here."

"Look, Officer…?" Chris trailed off, waiting for the man's name.

"O'Neill."

"Officer O'Neill," continued on Chris, "I don't know why this woman gave you my name - it must be another Chris Jones - it's not an uncommon name you know."

"You match the description she gave us," he replied, "And she said you told her you worked at a hospital as well as selling insurance."

"Why would I tell her my real name and where I work if I was trying to con her?" asked Chris in exasperation.

"Maybe you're not very good at it," he suggested, "You'd be surprised what some people think they can get away with. Ms Simpson said you met with her today, trying to force her to sign some papers."

"This is ludicrous!" said Chris throwing his hands up in disbelief, "I have never met the woman you're talking about! I was having lunch with this woman here today - ask her if you don't believe me!"

"What time was that?" asked Officer O'Neill.

"From twelve until now," volunteered Sami a bit overwhelmed by the turn of events and almost feeling sorry for Chris… almost.

"Ms Simpson said she saw you at ten today," said the officer, "I checked with your secretary - she said you were out all morning."

"I was out running some errands for the Charity Ball on Friday," said Chris in growing frustration, "I was in the mall organising some last minute details about the catering and so on."

"Can you prove that sir?" asked Officer O'Neill calmly.

"Of course I can prove it!" snapped Chris, "I have my validated parking stubs - they'll show you exactly what time I arrived at the mall and what time I left."

"Excellent sir," said the Officer O'Neill, "And if I could just give them to me then I'm sure we can clear this whole mess up and you can be on your way."

"Fine," bit out Chris, "I will, there just in my…"

Chris trailed off and looked over to his right to where a few stray bubbles were still breaking the surface of the water.

"… car," he finished weakly.

"That's fine," said Officer O'Neill, "I'll wait while you get them."

"Actually that may not be as simple as it sounds," said EJ, trying to be helpful, "Mr Jones has encountered a slight problem when it comes to vehicle."

"Oh?" the officer arched an eyebrow and looked at Chris, "And what might that be sir."

"It's in the water," said Chris dully, "My car just rolled in the water."

The cop was now looking at him very suspiciously, walking over to the edge of the dock and seeing the tell tale trail of bubbles.

"I think the hand brake wasn't on properly," offered EJ, "That model always had a little problem with that."

"And no one was hurt?" asked the officer, looking around for evidence of damage.

"No," said Emily, "It was quite amazing really, it just glided down that embankment up there and sailed in to the water without hitting a single thing. It was quite something."

"Well that's unfortunate," said Officer O'Neill.

"Ya think?!" snapped Chris, his patience all but gone now, "My car is at the bottom of the ocean and all you've got to say is that it's unfortunate?!"

"Unfortunate and unlucky too sir," he said, "Because now I'm going to have to ask you to come down to the station until we're able to verify your alibi by speaking to the people in the shops you went to in the mall."

"Are you kidding me?" Chris practically screeched the question at the other man.

"Do I _look_ like I'm kidding you sir?" asked the Officer, his face a stony mask.

"I want a lawyer!" demanded Chris, suddenly starting to get worried.

"I'm a lawyer," EJ offered cheerfully.

"Not you!" hissed Chris as though the devil himself had offered to help him, "Anyone but you!"

"Charming," said EJ with a shrug, "Suit yourself then."

"Come along sir," said the officer, taking his arm.

"Don't touch me!" spat Chris, by this time he was so worked up that he was beginning to lose it and yank his arm away from the officer.

The officer instinctively put his hand to his gun and held up a warning hand.

"I need you to calm down sir."

"I'm calm!" yelled Chris.

Officer O'Neill went for his handcuffs now.

"Turn around sir," he instructed Chris.

"You're not putting those on me!" said Chris in horror.

"I really think you should listen to the officer Chris," said Sami trying to stop this from escalating any further.

Chris gave in then, realising he was fighting a losing battle. EJ, Sami and Emily watched as the other man was cuffed and led away, along with the interested group of on lookers that had gathered with all of the commotion.

"Wow," said Sami in amazement, "Can you believe that? How unlucky can one guy be?"

"Indeed," said EJ, looking very serious, "So Samantha, do you need me to drive you somewhere at all?"

"No," she said with a sigh, "I've got my car and I have to go and pick up the twins from Grandma's now anyway."

"Alright sweetheart," said EJ, leaning down and giving her a kiss, "I'll see you at home then."

"Okay," she smiled, "Bye Emily, it was nice seeing you again."

"You too dear," smiled the older woman.

Sami gave a last little bemused grimace at the goings on and turned around, heading back to her car, leaving only Emily and EJ standing there. Emily looked up at EJ with an amused look.

"Dinner _and_ a show Mr DiMera," she said, arching an eyebrow at him knowingly, "You really know how to show a girl a good time."

"Why Emily," said EJ, feigning his best wounded look, "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."

"Now if I were to believe that dear boy it really would be time to ship me off to the old folks home," said Emily dryly, taking the arm EJ offered her and starting to walk back to his car with him.

EJ just smiled to himself, picturing Chris in the back seat of the police car.

And he probably thought that this was as bad as it was going to get… if only he knew.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter TEN**

Sami was in bed, nervously waiting for EJ to join her. She hadn't told him about Chris propositioning her earlier in the day yet and knew she had to but felt a huge amount of dread at the prospect. She'd had a lot of experience with this kind of thing - often through no fault of her own - thank you very much Kate Roberts! It had rarely gone well, all of the men instantly thinking she'd been at fault in some way. It would kill her if EJ was to think that she'd led Chris on or that he might not believe her that nothing had happened. Sami fidgeted nervously and waited for her husband.

"What do you think about sneaking away for a couple of days without the twins after the wedding?" asked EJ, walking in from the bathroom, towelling his hair dry and already dressed in his pyjama pants, "We never did have a honeymoon… maybe Marlena wouldn't mind taking care of the twins for…"

"I have to talk to you!" she blurted out, interrupting him.

EJ looked out at her curiously from underneath the towel he was drying his hair with.

"Okay," he said slowly.

"Sit down," said Sami anxiously, indicating the bed.

EJ sat down and Sami promptly got off the bed and started to pace.

"Sweetheart what is it?" asked EJ with a little frown, "You're starting to worry me."

"I have to tell you something," she said, wringing her hands nervously, "And I don't want to."

"Samantha," he said calmly, reaching out and stilling her fidgeting hands, "You can tell me anything sweetheart - what is it?"

"I had lunch today with Chris," she told him, still twitching a little under his hand.

"I know," he smiled kindly at her, "I saw you there, remember?"

"Yes," said Sami distractedly, "But what you don't know is that… is that Chris made a pass at me, over lunch."

"Oh," said EJ, taking his hand off hers, "I see."

"Nothing happened EJ!" she said, her voice raising with her nerves, "I swear to you! You have to believe me!"

"Hey, hey sweetheart," he said with gently, "Calm down - of course I believe you."

"You… you do?" she said hesitantly.

"Absolutely," he said firmly, "Samantha I trust you entirely."

"You do?" she repeated, almost in disbelief, "Really?"

"Really," said EJ, pulling her down to sit beside him on the bed, "Samantha, you never have to worry about telling me things like that. You're a beautiful women - of course men are going to hit on you, I know that. But I also know that you love me and that you're not a person who takes her commitments lightly."

"I don't," she said, feeling a bit overwhelmed, "Oh EJ, I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear you say this. I just didn't know how I was going to tell you Chris tried to kiss me and he had that hotel room booked and everything."

"You can't possibly have been worried about telling me about this Samantha," he said with a frown, "Darling, I would never doubt your faithfulness."

_Did she just say that he tried to kiss her and what the HELL… a hotel room??!! That did it - no more Mr Nice Guy, Chris Jones was going down!_

"Oh!" gasped Sami and threw her arms around his neck, "You are just so wonderful to me."

She pulled back and looked at him in despair.

"And here you are stuck with crazy wife who goes mad every time you so much as mention Nicole's name," she wailed, "I'm insane!"

EJ gave a little laugh at how upset she looked and shook his head.

"You are insane," he agreed with her readily, leaning over to kiss her neck, "Insanely beautiful…"

He kissed further down her neck.

"… insanely desirable…"

Down to her collar bone now, his breath hot against her skin.

"… insanely passionate…"

"EJ," she gasped, letting him push her back onto the bed and biting her lip as he moved over the top of her, his brown eyes heating where ever they touched, "Love me…"

"Is that a question or a request?" he smiled down at her, nuzzling her nose with his tenderly, "Because the answer is yes."

His hands moved up her body and Sami melted, knowing she could never love anyone as much as she loved him.

Chris Jones staggered into his office the next day, looking a lot worse for wear. It had been a long night. It had taken far longer than it should have to clear up the case of mistaken identity. The woman had refused to come down and do a line up and thus exonerate him. Then his lawyer had taken forever to show up - Mickey Horton wouldn't be getting any repeat business from him! By the time all that had been sorted out it was close of business and the people the police needed to talk to had gone home for the day so Chris had to spend a night in jail. He'd only been released a couple of hours ago when the shops had re-opened and his alibi had been confirmed.

His accounts were still frozen, he had no car and to top it all off when he got home the sprinklers in his apartment had malfunctioned at some point and everything he owned was completely drenched! He was about ready to lie down and cry if one more thing went wrong for him today.

"Hello Christopher, sorted out that pesky police problem I see."

Chris' head snapped round at the sound of the obnoxious Englishman's voice. EJ was sitting on the sofa he had in his office, long legs crossed in front of him, arms outstretched along the back of the sofa, a pleasant smile on his face.

"How… who let you in?" he gasped, trying to recover from the shock of seeing him there.

"Oh I just let myself in," said EJ breezily, "I hope that isn't a problem Chris?"

"It is as a matter of fact!" he snapped, "You can show your self out."

"Such unfriendliness," tutted EJ, "I do hope you're going to be a little more amiable in your next place of employment Christopher."

"What are you talking about?" muttered Chris, going and slumping down in his chair behind his desk when it became obvious that the other man wasn't going anywhere, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh but you are," said EJ happily, "And sooner rather than later."

Chris gave him confused look as EJ stood up and took the seat across from him at the desk.

"You'll be handing in your resignation today," he informed the other man calmly, "Effective immediately."

"And why would I do that?" asked Chris flatly, wondering if he should call security on this lunatic.

"You have been a very unlucky man these last couple of days," said EJ, settling back in the chair and tilting his head to one side as he feigned concern, "I'd hate to see that be an escalating problem for you Christopher. I think it's really better if you cut you're losses and ran - don't you?"

Chris blinked slowly a couple of times, suddenly realising something.

"_You_ did this to me!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at him and then looked a little bewildered, "_How_ did you do this to me… why?!"

"Christopher," said EJ calmly, absently straightening his tie, "You can have no idea what it took for Samantha and I to finally be together. Sufficit to say it has been a long and oft times torturous road but we are married now. Samantha is everything to me and I protect what's mine - to the death if necessary."

"Are… are you threatening me?" stammered Chris wondering just what kind of whacko he'd managed to get himself involved with here.

"Oh Chris!" laughed EJ but despite that his eyes were hard and dark, "You misunderstand me utterly… _that_ was a promise."

"You're insane!" said Chris, the growing horror in his eyes, "You can't do this to me!"

"I don't think name calling is necessary Chris," said EJ casually, "And yes, I _can_ do this to you - can and will. Do you think the worse thing that can happen to you is a night in jail? If I were you I'd be grateful that I wasn't _in_ that car when it sank to the bottom of the ocean yesterday. Of course, that is a detail that can always be rectified with one phone call."

"I… I can't just leave town," he stammered, feeling as though he'd slipped into an alternate reality somewhere along the line, "It's not possible to just do that overnight!"

"I am not an unreasonable man," said EJ, standing up and buttoning up his jacket, "You have until Saturday - I'm sure a man like yourself will be able to organise things quickly - after all you managed it with the Charity Ball… which by the way you won't be attending."

"But…" Chris trailed off, so shell shocked by this stage he couldn't even seem to be able to put sentences together any more.

"I'm sure you'll think of something suitable to tell people," EJ continued on blithely, walking towards the door now, "A family problem you need to attend to, a personal crisis - you strike me as a man who can come up with a lie pretty easily."

"I'll… I'll tell people what you're doing to me!" he said, suddenly snapping out of his stupor, "You're not going to get away with this!"

"Do you really think with a name like DiMera that I haven't been very careful in all my dealings with you Christopher?" he asked evenly, hand on the door knob now, "No one will ever be able to associate me with anything to do with you other than the fact that my wife and you used to be acquaintances."

"You bastard!" spat out Chris.

"Quite possibly," agreed EJ easily and then gave him a cold, hard smile, "I'll say my goodbyes now Christopher and I do hope for your sake that we never see each other again."

Chris watched the man leave, frozen in a kind of stunned silence before he let his head drop to the desk top and he let out a noisy, despairing groan. EJ walked down the hallway of the hospital whistling a quiet tune to himself. Today was turning out to be a good day.

He did so love it when he could mark something off his to do list.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter ELEVEN**

Later that day Sami was practically dancing around the kitchen as she made up some formula for the twins whilst they were sleeping and John was reading his newspaper at the kitchen table.

"You know," she said happily, just needing to express how fantastic her husband was out loud, "I was just thinking that EJ is so…"

"Tall?" supplied John helpfully.

"Ah, no," said Sami with a shake of her head.

"Accented?" John tried again.

"No, John," she frowned trying to complete her sentence.

"Albatross?"

"No.. what?" asked Sami looking at him in bewilderment, "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"I don't know - he's your husband," shrugged John, "You tell me."

"A person can't be 'albatross' John," said Sami in vexation.

"Why not?" asked John blankly.

"Because it doesn't _mean_ anything!" she said in exasperation.

"But you can call people pigs or rats or pussy cats," said John blithely, warming to his subject, "Or snakes or fish or ducks or…"

"No one calls a person a 'duck'!" said Sami, knowing she should get out of this crazy conversation right now but not seeming to be able to stop herself.

It was rather like watching a house burn down - horrifying but you can't look away.

"So it's only birds that people can't be," mused John, "Curious."

"Well, no," said Sami, starting to get confused herself now, "You can call someone a chicken… or a peacock… or even an ostrich I suppose - with the whole head in the sand thing."

"So why not an albatross then?" asked John perfectly reasonably, "Who gets to decide these things?"

"I don't know!" Sami snapped in frustration, "I don't make the rules!"

"You just enforce them," commented John, "Interesting."

Sami shook her head, giving up. Trying to reason with John sometimes was like a broken pencil… pointless! Half the time she came away more confused about what she'd been trying to explain to him in the first place and this was one of these times.

Just who did get to make up the rules about what people could be compared to exactly?

Sami made a mental note to ask EJ tonight - if anyone would know it would be him. At the thought of her husband Sami felt her good mood returning and she started to hum a happy tune.

"You seem chirpy today," John noted over the top of his usual newspaper, taking in the happy glow on Sami's face as she now made herself a snack.

"I am," she said breezily, a big smile on her face, "Because like I was trying to say before, I'm married to the most wonderful, understanding man in the world."

"Yeah," said John stoically, "He makes me all tingly too but what exactly has my nephew done to illicite this kind of buzz?"

"I told EJ something last night that I was worried about telling him and he was just great about it," said Sami, chewing on her apple slices blissfully.

"Who did _you_ see naked?" asked John expressionlessly, "Rolf?"

"Ick!" said Sami pulling a horrified face, "No! It was nothing like that! I just told EJ that Chris had made a pass at me and he told me he trusted me and believed me when I said nothing happened."

"So the guy finally made his move huh?" said John calmly, going back to his paper, "He really was as dumb as he looked."

"What do you mean - _finally_ made his move?" she asked with a frown, coming to sit down across from him, "Did you know that Chris was interested in me that way? How could you? Who else knew?"

"Well Nicole's dog told me," said John straight faced, "So I think you can go right ahead and assume that everyone knew."

"But EJ didn't know," she protested, "Because if he'd known from the beginning he would have…"

"What?" asked John, who'd heard of Chris' misfortunes over dinner last night, "Gotten him audited, destroyed his car, had him arrested? You're right Samantha - there is no way my nephew could have known about Chris trying to get you into bed. What was I thinking?"

"But he couldn't have," she said faintly, "We talked last night… we'd said we'd tell each other everything…"

Sami trailed off talking, things suddenly becoming clear to her. John watched the expression of dawning comprehension spread over her face with interest.

"EJ _lied_ to me!" she said in horror, "_He_ did all those things to Chris!"

"There you go," said John not without some humour, "Even the slowest train pulls into the station eventually."

"The whole time I'm apologising for being the crazy in the relationship and he's out putting people's cars in the bottom of the ocean!" exclaimed Sami, her outrage growing as it all sunk in, "That smug, lying, sanctimonious…"

She trailed off then, too angry to find any words.

"I am going to kill him!" she announced dramatically, "When I get my hands on him, I'm going to _kill_ him!"

"You'll be needing your spork then," said John, unfazed by her ranting, "I think I saw Rolf put it in the dishwasher."

"Oh I don't need any help!" snarled Sami angrily, "I'm going to do it with my bare hands!"

"I'm sure my nephew will enjoy that," said John ironically.

"John, I need you to watch the twins for me," said Sami, ignoring his previous statement entirely, "And…"

"I know, I know," he sighed, "No bonding, just watch them - I remember."

Sami stormed into the gym, the trip over only giving her more time to stew over how EJ had tricked her. She'd rung his office only to have Marcie tell him that he'd slipped out to the gym between clients. She was going to give him more than a piece of her mind - who did he think he was trying to deceive her like that?! He was going to be _so_ sorry that he tried to pull this crap on her!

She walked into the general gym area and the first thing she saw was EJ on the treadmill. He had an easy kind of running motion and he always made it seem effortless, like he'd just started although the fine sheen of sweat on his body told her that he'd probably been on it awhile already. Sami determinedly ignored how gorgeous he looked, all sweaty and breathing a bit heavily, his muscles particularly defined because of the work out. She shook her head - this was not what she'd come here for.

"Samantha," he said, catching sight of her standing there, a happy smile lighting up his face, "Sweetheart what are you…"

"You rat!" she hissed at him, stomping over to him, her eyes spitting daggers at him, "You low life, lying piece of refuge… how could you?!"

EJ continued to keep pace on the treadmill, not missing a step as his wife glared up at him and looked at her thoughtfully.

"Is there a problem O Light of my Life?" he asked, ever the innocent, quirking an eyebrow at her, still jogging.

"You're damn right there is!" said Sami, annoyed at how he was seeming to take her obvious displeasure with him in his stride - literally and figuratively, "Will you get off that thing!"

"Actually sweetheart my survival instincts are telling me that running is probably going to be in my best interests right now," he said, a smile quirking his lips.

Sami glowered at him and stabbed at the controls, stopping the machine anyway. EJ's pace slowed from a run, to a jog and then to a walk until coming to a stand still.

"Well out of the fight or flight instinct I've only got one choice left," observed EJ ruefully and the gathering storm clouds on his wife face confirmed that for him.

"You are unbelievable!" she snapped at him.

"I'm sensing that you don't mean that as a compliment," said EJ with a sigh, stepping off the treadmill and going to pick up his bottle of water.

"Oh you had better believe it mister!" said Sami, hands on hips now and looking at him menacingly, "I know EJ - I know!"

"What is it that you know sweetheart?" asked EJ around a mouthful of water although he was almost certain he knew that answer to that question.

"I know that you did all those things to Chris!" she said loudly, "Go on - deny it!"

"Why would I?" said EJ, casually picking up his towel and wiping his face with it before slinging it around his neck, "When I did them."

"So… so you admit it then?" said Sami, a bit taken aback.

"Yep," he said happily, "Now was that all sweetheart because I was hoping to get a little weight training in before I have to get back to the office?"

"No that is not all!" she spat out, "Are you _kidding_ me?! You sat there last night and listened to me carry on about how sorry I was about all the insane things I've done because I've been jealous! You were all sweet and understanding… "

"Sorry," he interrupted wryly, "I'll make sure not to do that again."

"I wasn't finished yet," she bit out.

"I thought that might be the case," he sighed and then waved a hand at her to continue.

"You're making out like I'm the crazy one in the relationship!" yelled Sami, her arms flailing around wildly, 'But I'm not! _You're_ the crazy one!"

Several people were stopping to stare at Sami's very public histrionics. She actually looked did look a bit mad - face flushed red, eyes shooting daggers and wild hand gestures.

"We're rehearsing a play," EJ informed them with a calm smile, "Taming of the Shrew - guess which one of us is the shrew?"

"EJ!" said Sami threateningly, not in the mood for his humour.

"Let's take this somewhere a little more private eh Samantha?" he said, ushering her towards an nearby door, "You've already got a strike against you here - you strike one more person and they may suspend your membership."

Sami scowled at him, not liking the fact that he wasn't seeming to be taking her seriously but let him manoeuvre her through the door anyway. No sense in having witnesses when she drowned him in his own drink bottle for being such a smug jerk. EJ closed the door behind them and switched on a light.

"Oh," he said, looking around, "I always wondered what was in this room and now I know."

It was a store room, about fifteen feet squared with large metal shelves up and down the room with everything from bathroom supplies to tins of food for the kiosk.

"I can't believe what you did last night!" she said accusingly, her anger far from spent.

"Thank you," he said happily, intentionally misunderstanding her, "I thought the thing with the shower head was particularly inspired even if I do say so myself."

"That is not what I'm talking about and you know it!" she snarled feeling her blush deepen at the memory, despite her anger, "I'm talking about how you didn't tell me that you knew about Chris and what you did to him! You lied to me!"

"No I didn't," he protested with a frown, "I simply omitted. If you'd asked me, like you just then did then of course I would have told you. You just never asked."

"Don't go all lawyer speak on me!" she threatened him, "You knew full well that you should have told me about what you did! All those things and I'm thinking that I'm… wait a minute…"

Sami looked at him suspiciously now, a new thought suddenly occurring to her.

"You… you didn't make the pepper thing happen did you?" she asked cautiously, "How could you have - you were in New York… how could you even know about Chris' allergy? But it must have been you! You and Rolf cooked something up between you both didn't you?!"

"Interesting choice of words their Samantha…" stalled EJ, giving a little grimace.

"I can't believe you!" she exclaimed, "Here we all are trying to get Rolf to stop killing people and practically put a loaded gun in his hand!"

"It was more like a loaded pepper mill," said EJ with a grin and an unapologetic shrug, "Or should that be pfeffer mill?"

"You could have killed him!" said Sami in horror.

"It was a risk I was willing to take," said EJ sounding very serious, belying the twinkle in his eye.

"So meanwhile all this is happening and you're just carrying on your merry way letting me think that I'm the unstable one our marriage," she ranted, "And the whole time you're acting even crazier than me and making me feel like I should be the one grateful to have someone so 'understanding' - you make me so mad!"

"Samantha," he said laughingly, sticking his hands in his pockets and shaking his head, "You make me sound like some kind of albatross."

"Well that's what… wait, what do you mean by that?" she asked him, taken aback at his choice of words, "That's not a thing - what does that mean?"

"You know," said EJ indulgently, not sure why she was looking at him in that way, "From the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" - the albatross around your neck - a source of distress or a burden. You've heard of that surely?"

Sami hadn't heard of that and now realised she was gong to have to go back and tell John he'd been right all along - a person could be an albatross. Damn! That just made her more annoyed at EJ now then before.

"I cannot believe you ran Chris' car off the dock," she said heatedly, shaking her head at him, "You're a nut!"

"You hit Nicole with a tree," pointed out EJ quite reasonably.

"You set Chris up and got him arrested!" she exclaimed, not letting him make out that she was crazier than him after all this.

"You punched Nicole in the face in this very establishment," countered EJ easily.

"You had all his accounts frozen!" said Sami, not backing down.

"You tried to set Nicole on fire with a dessert!" replied EJ, not giving in either.

"Oh you!" she exclaimed, enraged that he wouldn't let her have the last word so she reacted instinctively, grabbing the first thing that came to hand and throwing it at him with all her might.

EJ looked down as the roll of toilet paper bounced harmlessly off his chest.

"You know I think you were on a surer thing with the spork sweetheart," he said with a grin which just made her all the more madder and she went back for something with more weight to it.

EJ's grin slipped as he had to suddenly duck to avoid catching a tin of peaches with his face.

"Whoa there!" he said, watching her go back for something else.

"You are the most annoying, superior…"

Sami picked up a packet of biscuits, a couple of kitchen utensils and a salt shaker at EJ who had to duck and weave to avoid taking any direct hits. He was almost completely successful except for the salt shaker.

"Ow," he complained and ruefully rubbed his elbow that the hard edge object had bounced off.

EJ saw his chance as Sami momentarily dropped her guard to grab fresh ammunition from the shelves and ran towards her, grabbing her around the waist and throwing her over his shoulder before she could hurl anything else at him.

"PUT ME DOWN!" she yelled at him, struggling wildly but there was very little she could do to help herself in her current position.

"Not until you play nice," EJ said and she could hear the laughter in his voice and gave her backside a playful slap.

"Ow!" she cried out, incensed even more, "I'm not going to do anything such thing! I'm warning you EJ - put me down this instance or you'll be sorry!!"

"I think I'll be sorrier if I put you down in your current mood," he mused almost to himself, "So no, I think we'll just stay like this until you calm down I think."

"Oh put me down!" she spat out, completely livid now, "You smug, elongated _bastard_!"

That only made EJ laugh harder and of course there is nothing guaranteed to make someone madder than they already are than to laugh at them. Completely infuriated Sami did the only thing her current predicament would allow - she grabbed hold of EJ's waist and sank her teeth into his back.

"OUCH!" EJ cried out and nearly dropped her.

Sami gave a satisfied smirk at his cry of pain but it quickly went when she felt him heave her up from his shoulder and suddenly she was being trapped against a wall, held up above him, pinned by his body.

"Put me down!" she demanded of him, still wriggling to get free.

"Make me," he taunted her, tilting his head back so he could hold her enraged gaze as he held her against the wall just above him.

They were both sweaty now from the fight and ensuing struggle, blood pumping in their ears, breath coming in uneven pants. EJ looked at her, wild eyed and flushed, still spitting fire at him and felt himself harden, wanting her. Sami saw the flare of desire in his eyes and felt herself respond to it but wasn't giving in.

"Put me down EJ, or else," she warned him.

"Or else what Samantha?" he asked her huskily, his eyes falling to her lips, "What are you going to do eh sweetheart?"

"Make you," she muttered, grabbing his head with her hands and bending down to capture his lips in a fierce kiss.

As they kissed, EJ let her slide down the wall a little until she could wrap her legs around his waist, his hands going to her bottom and holding her in place as he ground his arousal against her. She bit his lip and he gave a growl of pain but only kissed her harder then, stealing the last of her breath from her body with it's force. Sami could feel how ready he was to be inside her, his stiffness pressing against her stomach and her body begged her to make it happen. He began to rock back and forth against her, increasing the torture as their clothes still stood in the way of ultimate satisfaction. Finally Sami could stand the dry humping no longer and slipped her hands between their bodies, pushing down his sweat pants and boxers to find his swollen length underneath, wrapping her hand around it, thumb rubbing back and forth over the tip teasingly.

"Samantha!" he groaned, pushing himself harder into her hand.

She felt one of the hands holding her to the wall leave her, fumbling underneath her skirt, pulling aside her now drenched panties and then he was plunging into her, making her toes curl as she struggled to stretch to take him all at once. But she didn't want him to stop, locking her ankles around his back she urged him on, encouraging him to go harder, deeper with each thrust and he happily obliged.

The small space was filled with the sound of their bodies slamming against each other and their grunting cries of pleasure as they brought each other closer to that perfect crescendo. EJ felt himself begin to tighten, his release inevitable now and prayed she wasn't far behind because he couldn't stop himself now. He gave a choked cry, feeling himself swell one final time before he erupted inside of her, pumping his juices into hers and moaning helplessly as he did. The sound of his orgasms always made her come if she hadn't already and Sami shuddered powerfully as her body clenched wildly, bearing down on him hard and making him come again, milking a fresh orgasm from his body.

They collapsed on the floor, side by side in a sweaty, panting heap, the blood still coursing through their veins from the force of their mutual release.

"Jerk," said Sami unevenly, hitting his chest with the back of her hand in an attempt to have the last word.

"Hellion," said EJ with a self satisfied smile, propping himself up on one elbow and looking down at her, a finger tracing her lips that were still swollen from all of his kisses, "And you're all mine, every crazy inch of you, just like you own every insane inch of me."

He kissed her tenderly then, his tongue lapping at her lips soothingly before parting them and tasting her deeply.

"Yes I do," she sighed when he finally let her speak again, stroking his face lovingly, "Yes I do."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter TWELVE**

Sami looked up from where she was folding laundry as EJ walked into the sitting room and arched her eyebrows in surprise.

"What are you doing home so early?" she asked him.

"I'm taking the afternoon off to be with my best girl," he told her, walking over to her giving her a kiss, "Hi Uncle John."

"Nephew," John returned the greeting and went promptly back to the book he was reading.

"Well that sounds lovely EJ," said Sami with a smile, "But I've already got a date for this afternoon - I'm meeting Jo at two."

"Really?" he said, arching an eyebrow at her, "And who might this 'Joe' be?"

Sami rolled her eyes at the possessive look he was giving her, their 'conversation' at the gym yesterday still fresh in her mind.

"Calm down," she smirked, "Before you set the Austrian allergy assassin on attack mode it's Jo as in Josephine. I'm meeting her to pick out a dinner plate pattern for the wedding reception."

"I'll come with you," he said happily.

"_You're_ interested in china patterns?" asked Sami sceptically.

"Samantha, I am deeply passionate about all things crockery related," he said very straight faced, "In fact after racing car driver, corporate mogul and lawyer… that was next on my list as a possible career."

"Of course it was," she said with a roll of her eyes, "Well, _I'm_ convinced."

"So is that a yes for letting me tag along?" he asked her hopefully.

"I wanted everything to be a surprise for you when we renew our vows," said Sami a little uncertainly.

"Sweetheart," said EJ with a smile, "It's only the china pattern and I promise I'll look surprised on the day - deal?"

"Okay," she laughed, letting him convince her.

He was pretty hard to say no to anyway when he looked at her with those big puppy dog eyes like that.

"We just have to drop the twins off at Grandma's on the way," she told him.

"No problem," he said happily, moving to help her fold the washing.

EJ sent her a quick look, coming to sit beside her as they folded.

"I've been thinking," he said, "We're going to have two anniversary dates now - the 1st of September and the 9th of November - which one am I meant to be giving you a gift for every year."

John snorted from where he was sitting in his favourite chair.

"And they say _I've_ got brain damage," he commented flatly, not looking up from his book.

EJ looked at his Uncle and then back at Sami who was just staring back at him.

"I'm going to be getting you gifts for both aren't I," said EJ with a resigned grimace.

"I can't believe you even had to ask," said Sami, shaking her head at him mock disgust, going back to her folding, "It's like you don't even know me at all."

"And with them being in different years that means that you'll get two of each of the biggies - golden, sapphire, diamond etc," speculated John almost to himself.

"Thanks for pointing that out Uncle," said EJ with a roll of his eyes, "It's very good of you."

"Happy to help," said John, missing EJ's irony.

An hour later EJ and Sami were sitting side by side at the wedding planning emporium of one Josephine Litner. Jo Litner was a middle aged, perfectly coiffed woman who seemed to scream elegance and class. She was very friendly and welcoming and soon they were down to the business as hand. EJ and Sami were sitting at a table with a perfectly crisp, white linen table cloth and about ten or so dinner settings were displayed on it. Jo stood on the other side of the table, waxing lyrical about each design whilst EJ and Sami nodded encouragingly, polite smiles on their faces.

Sami knew EJ must have been bored out of his brain despite his earlier protestations of some kind of crockery fetish, an assumption confirmed when she felt his hand on her thigh after about ten minutes into the show and tell. Sami maintained her outward appearance of interest even as she felt his hand slide higher and move towards her inner thigh. Sami shifted in her seat, attempting to dislodge his hand with out drawing Jo's attention to what was going on under the perfectly crisp, white linen table cloth covered table of hers. EJ let her move away from him but only so he could changed tactics, placing his hand on her knee this time.

"So does this pattern come in a different colour?" asked Sami, attempting to keep her mind on what they were there for and not her husband's wandering hands.

"Oh yes," gushed Jo who clearly did have a passion for crockery, "It comes in a green and a quite exquisite gold as well which will go with any colour theme that you might be thinking of for your reception."

"Does that one over there come in gold?" asked EJ evenly.

He indicated with his free hand because his other hand had slipped up under the skirt Sami was wearing and making it's way slowly but surely north. Sami squeezed her legs together in an attempt to stop him but it wasn't working. She felt her heart start to beat erratically as he drew ever closer to what was becoming increasingly obvious was his intended destination. Sami could see him out of the corner of her eye as she determinedly didn't look at him, giving Jo a look of rapt attention all the while his hand was creeping ever higher.

EJ was giving nothing away and Sami was attempting to do the same but it was getting increasingly difficult for her, especially when his long fingers were now stroking at the silky material separating him from his ultimate goal. She felt her body react, the wetness gushing out of her and she bit her inner lip, doing her best to maintain a neutral façade even while she felt his fingers slip past the now soaked final barrier to claim his prize. As briefly stroked her slick folds before sliding a finger into waiting heat, crooking it so he could give her maximum pleasure. Sami gave a choking gasp which she tried to cover with a cough.

"Well I can see by your face you're quite excited by that design," said Jo blithely and Sami gave a weak smile, praying that the other woman never worked out what she was really excited about.

"It's… it's… umm… lovely," managed Sami, even as she felt him pick up his pace inside of her, feeling her lower body begin to quiver.

"I'm glad you like it too sweetheart," said EJ, looking at her ever so straight faced, his expression totally belying what he was doing to her under the table, "I love how in sync we are."

Sami was left in no doubt what it was exactly EJ was talking about and it had nothing to do with china patterns. Of it's own accord her body was beginning to move against his hands, her hips meeting each thrust of his fingers and Sami leant forward to hide the small movements from Jo, not that the woman seemed to be noticing anything out of the ordinary as she launched into another spiel about china designs.

Sami rested an elbow on the table and put her head in her hand, studiously looking down at the hand out Jo had given them on arrival in attempt to hide what was happening to her. She struggled with all her might to keep her breathing even and quiet but it was getting increasingly difficult especially when he added his thumb to her nub, roughly rubbing the swollen peak. Sami's body couldn't take it anymore and she felt herself begin to tense.

Oh god he was going to make her come in the middle of a department store with Jo standing only a couple of feet away and she could do nothing about it!

The tension built until finally she felt herself spasm, deep inside, the pleasure radiating out from her core with an intensity that forced her to swallow her cries of pleasure, squeezing her eyes shut briefly against the force of her release even as she tried her best to maintain an outward look of composure. When he felt that she was finally done, EJ slowly removed his hand, gliding back along the same path he'd taken to get there until he took his hand off her leg and placed it on top of the one he had resting on his lap.

Sami sent him a sideways glance as she still hid her face behind her hand that she was leaning on. He looked completely in control and riveted by whatever Jo was now talking about which was more than could be said for Sami because she wasn't even sure the other woman was talking English anymore, her senses were so frazzled after the intensity of her orgasm. Sami couldn't believe he just did that and that she let him! She seemed to be developing some exhibitionist tendencies thanks to him.

She watched as EJ sat back more in his chair, resting an elbow on the arm rest and resting his face in his hand casually before slipping the finger that had worked it's magic on her into his mouth, in a display of continuing interest of Jo's presentation. Sami almost groaned aloud as she watched him taste her in full view of the other woman. EJ turned his head and gave her a little smile as he let her see his tongue move up and down his finger briefly, a flare of wickedness to his look before turning his attention back to Jo.

The man was completely shameless!

"Oh Sami," said Jo suddenly looking at her with some concern, "You look quite flushed there - I do hope you're not coming down with something."

"I'm fine," said Sami quickly, her blush only increasing the post climatic glow she had going on, "I just… is it a little hot in here?"

"No," said Jo in concern, "It's a little cool if anything. EJ, it looks like your wife might need some looking after today."

"And I fully intend to do just that," said EJ smoothly, putting his arm around Sami's shoulders, "In fact I'm planning on taking Samantha straight home from here and putting her to bed."

Sami gave a little shake of her head, trying not to look as embarrassed as she felt. Meanwhile out of the corner of her eye she could see the mischievous twinkle in EJ's eye and the very faint smirk on his lips.

"That sounds like a good idea," said Jo solicitously, "You can't be too careful with the bugs that are going around at the moment - it's best to jump on top of these things at the very beginning."

"That's what I fully intend to do," said EJ straight faced and Sami hit his leg under the table warningly.

Jo smiled then and excused herself to organise the paperwork.

"You are shameless!" Sami hissed to him under her breath when the woman was out of ear shot.

"This from the woman who just…" he began teasingly.

"Enough!" she said and hit his leg again under the table.

"Ouch!" he pouted, "Is that the thanks I get for giving my wife a hand with…"

"You are _such_ a bad man EJ DiMera!" she interrupted him again and tried to glare at him but he was looking at her with such a pleased, impish look on his face that she found it hard to maintain.

"And aren't you so very glad that I am Mrs DiMera?" he purred, leaning in and nuzzling at her neck, licking briefly at the still heated flesh.

"This is not over EJ," she tried to threaten him but ruined the effect by smiling.

"Oh god I hope not," he groaned and she could feel his wicked smile against her neck.

"Stop it!" she said, hitting him again, "We're in public!"

"Spoil sport," moped EJ, straightening up but leaving his hand on her thigh.

"Just behave yourself," said Sami looking around them in embarrassment, "Jo's coming."

"There seems to be a bit of that going round," said EJ poker faced which earned him another smack.

"So here we are then," said Jo pleasantly as she came back to the table, "I just need some signatures and we're all done here. Oh Sami, you look more flushed than ever you poor thing - EJ you might have you're work cut out for you looking after her if she gets much worse."

"Oh I'm confident I can handle it," said EJ and Sami didn't know how he was maintaining such a straight face, "I'm very hands on when it comes to taking care of my wife."

Sami blew out a despairing little breath - the man was relentless.

"Aren't you the lucky one to have such a caring husband?" Jo said to Sami, "I can see why you're renewing the marriage vows - don't want to let this one get away."

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere," said EJ happily, picking up her hand and curling his fingers through hers, "I'm afraid she's stuck with me Jo."

Later that evening EJ and Sami were putting away the last of the dishes from dinner in the dishwasher. Sami gave a big yawn, covering her mouth with her hand as she did.

"Tired darling?" EJ asked her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Yes," she sighed and then gave him a little smile, "Too much excitement today I guess."

"Well I certainly can't argue with that," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her mischievously, "How about an early night and we can catch up on some sleep?"

Truth be told EJ was feeling a little weary himself and the thought of getting a good night's sleep wasn't totally abhorrent to him.

"I'll be glad when this charity ball thing is finally over," said Sami tiredly as EJ put his arm around her shoulder as Sami wrapped her arms around his waist as they walked out of the kitchen into the sitting room, "Only one more day and I won't have to worry about it anymore. I'm so nervous that something is going to go wrong."

"Everything is going to be perfect sweetheart," he told her comfortingly.

They both stopped when they came across John, in his usual chair, a book resting on his chest and fast asleep where he sat.

"Should we wake him?" asked Sami in amusement, watching the other man dozing away happily.

"Best to leave him," said EJ with a smile, "He'll wake up soon enough I'm sure. Meanwhile, to bed with you young lady."

Sami yawned again at the mention of bed and didn't argue with him. Her mom had already retired for the evening say she had some case files to go over in her room and the twins were sound asleep as well and hopefully would stay that way. Sami flopped down on the bed after having had her shower and listened to EJ taking his now. The sound of the running water was very soothing and she quickly found herself being lulled by it. EJ finished his shower and walked back into the bedroom to find Sami sprawled out on the bed already asleep. He smiled tenderly at the beautiful sight she made and wondered yet again he'd done to deserve this woman in his life. He carefully pulled the covers over her, tucking her in and then leant down and pressed lingering kiss on her lips.

"I love you," he told her softly.

Sami came briefly awake at the sound of his voice and sat up, half sat up, sleepily returning his kiss.

"Love you too," she mumbled, not even opening her eyes and promptly fell back on the bed and back to sleep.

EJ smiled and tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear and went round to his side of the bed, sitting down on the edge. He rubbed his face tiredly, feeling like he hadn't slept in a week and looking forward to some rest. He really hoped the twins didn't wake up tonight. EJ crawled into bed and moved closer to Sami, settling his body against hers as he lay on his side, a hand draped over her waist and closed his eyes, joining her in sleep almost immediately.

He woke the next morning to find that he hadn't so much as even rolled over in his sleep, still in the same position that he remember going to sleep in. The only difference was that Sami was no longer beside him. He felt the cold bed sheets beside him and realised that she must have been out of bed for a while now. He blearily focused on the bedside clock and got a start to see that it was already past nine in the morning - he must have really crashed last night. This woman was wearing him out - the thought brought a pleased smile to his lips.

EJ crawled out of bed and ran his hand sleepily through his hair and padded to the twins room. They weren't there but by this time in the morning they shouldn't be. EJ felt guilty that he hadn't gotten up to help Sami with them and headed down stairs, intending to ring Marcie and tell her that he was going to be a bit late this morning. He didn't have any appointments so that would be fine. He walked into the kitchen to find it empty - again, no surprise, breakfast would have been long over for everyone in the house by now.

EJ couldn't hear the twins and wondered if Sami had taken them outside to play seeing as it looked like a nice day outside. He walked out into the living room, absently scratching his stomach as he did, intending to go out through the French doors and see if his family was there. But what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Uncle John?" he said in surprise, hurrying over to where John was still asleep in his chair where EJ and Sami had left him last night, "Uncle!"

EJ put a hand on John's shoulder and shook it a little when the other man didn't respond immediately. He let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding when John's eyes opened and he looked groggily about him.

"Did you sleep her all night Uncle?" said EJ in concern but knew that was a stupid question because obviously he did.

"I… I guess so," said John, seeming to be having a bit of difficulty waking up.

A feeling of dread began to come over EJ, his stomach muscles clenching in on themselves as he went over to the French doors and could see no sign of Sami or the twins.

"Samantha!" he called out but there was no reply.

John and EJ exchanged looks, EJ starting to head back upstairs with John close behind him. EJ took the stairs two at a time and headed straight for Marlena's room.

"Marlena?" he called out through the door, tapping on the wood, "Are you in there?"

There was no answer so EJ tentatively opened the door and felt his stomach drop at what he saw.

"Marlena," he said worriedly, going inside.

"Blondie!" said John urgently, overtaking him and going straight to her.

Marlena lay stretched out on her bed, on top of the covers in her pyjamas completely unmoving, paper work scattered all around her as though she'd passed out halfway through it. John put a hand to her face.

"She's cold," he said over his shoulder to EJ, sounding anxious.

"Try and wake her," said EJ, pulling up the doona and covering her with it, "Marlena!"

"Wake up Blondie," said John after feeling for a pulse, "Wake up."

Marlena moved and seemed to be struggling to open her eyes.

"John," she said weakly, not quite focusing on him.

"It's alright," said John, "We're calling a doctor, lie still, I've got you."

EJ was backing out of the room, shaking his head, trying to fight the feeling of panic that was welling up in him. He turned on his heel and started to run from room to room - all twenty of them, looking for Sami and the twins, shouting out their names. Each fruitless search increased the dread in the pit of his stomach but he wouldn't stop. Finally he was back at their bedroom and he went to Sami's closet and opened it to find a lot of her clothes were missing - along with a two suitcases. EJ then ran back to the twins room, almost stumbling in his haste and looked in their closet only to find the same thing.

"I can't find Rolf," said John and EJ spun around to find him standing in the twin's doorway, a solemn look on his face.

"They're gone," said EJ hoarsely, dropping to his knees as all of the strength left his body, "They're gone."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE****: **So I'm leaving you all with a cliffhanger – naughty me eh? LOL

Now if you want to happen to poor Sami and the twins then stay tuned and I'd love to hear what you are thinking of the story so far.

There is some high adventure to come and some really fun stuff with Uncle John and EJ – they really bond – much to EJ's horror! ;)


	13. Chapter 13

**AUTHOR'S NOTE****: **So here we go then – it all starts to happen. LOL I simply fell in love with Uncle John in this part of the story and confirmed once and for all – Uncle John R-O-C-K-S!!! I think what I like about this story for me personally is that the DiMera family is really starting to come together now even though they are physically broken apart. Adversity tests the glue in any family and as oddball as the DiMera/Evans/Black/Rolf (what is that guys last name BTW???) clan is they are a real family in the making and I love that.

I hope you enjoy these next few chapters and as always, reviews are gratefully received.

Have fun with it…

**Chapter THIRTEEN**

EJ sat on the stairs of the DiMera mansion, still in his pyjamas and his head in his hands. He could hear the sound of people moving all around him - Roman and his men moving back and forth but didn't bother to watch. He felt as though he couldn't breath, couldn't think - his whole world had just been torn from him in one ruthless blow.

She was gone, Sami was gone… the twins - his family suddenly lost to him.

He'd gone to bed last night blissfully happy and at peace and woken up this morning to a nightmare.

"EJ?"

EJ looked up at the sound of his father-in-law saying his name and blinked a couple of times to clear his head.

"There is no sign of Sami or the twins," he confirmed, "My men are still looking but there is no evidence of any kind of struggle. EJ…"

Roman trailed off and EJ knew what he was thinking.

"What Roman?" he asked, his voice hard, "Were you going to ask me if my wife simply left me in the middle of the night - took the twins and ran?"

"EJ yours has not always been a… conventional marriage to my daughter," said Roman, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, "It's something we have to consider."

"Well consider this Roman," said EJ starting to get angry, "If Samantha was intending on leaving me why wait until the middle of the night? Why not simply go during the day when we were all out eh? Why drug the entire household? Why didn't she tell even her mother what she was planning eh?"

"And why did she take Rolf with her?" asked John flatly, coming up behind Roman and interjecting into their conversation, "Couldn't live without his cheese balls?"

"Uncle John," said EJ with a frown, "How is Marlena, have the paramedics finished checking her out?"

"Yes but they want to take her to the hospital anyway just to be on the safe side," John informed him, "Whatever it was that knocked us all out she seems to have been more affected by it than we were. Maybe because she's smaller than us."

EJ nodded numbly, trying not to think about Sami and what state she must be in right now.

"Alright," said Roman, "I understand, there are things that look out of place here and first thing we need to do is get you all down to the hospital to be checked out."

"I'm fine," said EJ, waving away his concern, "I just want to find my family."

"Well you can do that by co-operating with the police and letting us do our job EJ," said Roman firmly, "We need to get blood samples from all of you to find out if you have been drugged."

"Of course we were drugged," said EJ impatiently, "How else can you explain us all sleeping through someone breaking in here and taking my wife and children in the middle of the night?! The twins must have made a noise, how could no one have woken up and look at the state of Marlena - you can't tell me that there isn't something wrong there!"

"We're collecting all the food in the kitchen even as we speak," Roman reassured him, "We're going to check everything. If there was a drug of some kind used it is most likely that you all ate or drank it at dinner last night. Did you all eat the same thing?"

"Yes," said John evenly, "And we all had some wine."

"And Rolf prepared it?" asked Roman, jotting down some notes, "Did you see him eat anything."

"Rolf prepares all our meals," said EJ dully, "And no, he doesn't eat with us so I don't know if he ate any of what he made for us."

EJ frowned, it just didn't make sense. It seemed most likely that Rolf had done this to them but for what reason - who was he working for? Stefano was still in a coma in the hospital - Rolf's involvement made no sense because EJ was certain he knew who had done this.

"Roman, I just heard the news - is it true?"

The men looked around as Kate Roberts sailed through the front doors, a look of concern on her face.

"You tell us Kate," said EJ angrily, suddenly standing up, "After all it was your son who took Samantha and the twins."

"Lucas?" said Kate taken aback, "He'd never do something like this."

"No his style is more shooting people in the back or having them run down isn't it Kate?" bit out EJ.

"Lucas would never hurt Sami," protested Kate.

"Well that black eye he gave her would seem to suggest otherwise!" spat out EJ.

"Wait," said Roman, a frown on his face, "Lucas hit Sami - when?"

"When he found out that our marriage was real," said EJ bitingly, "He took it out on Samantha - that's the kind of man your son is Kate!"

"I don't believe you!" said Kate.

"I don't care if you believe me," said EJ fiercely, going over to her and grabbing her by the top of her arms and giving her a shake, "Just tell me where they are Kate. There is no way Lucas had the resources to be able to pull this off by himself! Tell me Kate - what have you done?!"

"EJ!" said Roman, grabbing his arm and pulling him away, "Stop that! Let her go!"

EJ gave a growl and shoved Kate away from him roughly.

"This is it for your son Kate!" EJ threatened her, "When I find my family - and I will, make no mistake about it - I'm going to make bloody sure that he won't ever be a danger to them ever again!"

"You're insane!" said Kate, straightening her coat and glaring at EJ, "I'm telling you Lucas didn't have anything to do with Sami and the twin's disappearance and I sure as hell don't know anything about it either! So next time keep your wild accusations and your hands to yourself EJ!"

"I know Lucas did this Kate," said EJ vehemently, "I know!"

"Lucas is in Seattle with his new job," she protested, "Check if you don't believe me!"

"Oh don't worry about that!" said EJ fiercely, "I will be!"

"No _I _will be," Roman interjected firmly, "EJ stay out of this. You just need to calm down and let us do our job."

"Every minute we stand here debating this the further away Lucas is getting," said EJ in frustration, "We have to close all the roads out of Salem, check the airports and bus stations…"

"EJ," said Roman, putting a settling hand on the younger mans arm, "Just relax, this isn't helping anyone."

"Oh right, relax!" said EJ bitterly, "My whole life has just been stolen from me, everything I love in this world but by all means let's just relax shall we? Maybe I'll can catch the new Jim Carrey movie at the cinema or maybe my uncle and I can play a nice relaxing game of pool together while you and your men stand around trying to work out what is so obvious that to anyone with half a brain it's embarrassing!"

Roman looked back at him steadily, knowing he had to vent his anger and frustration but not willing to be drawn into an argument with him.

"I didn't know we had a pool table," said John suddenly, "Where?"

"I was just being sarcastic Uncle John," said EJ, shaking his head in frustration, some of his anger leaving him.

"Does that also mean that there isn't a new Jim Carrey movie either?" he asked straight faced.

"Yes," said EJ and blew out an annoyed breath, forcing himself to calm down.

"That's probably a good thing," commented John idly.

The rest of the people in the room looked at him a little askew but EJ just put his hands on his hips, walking off some of his frustration, use to his uncles little odd interjections by now. Roman's cell phone rang and he answered it, walking a little away from the group. They all looked at him expectantly when he returned.

"That was Seattle PD," Roman informed them, "They've just gotten off the phone from Lucas' parole officer - apparently he didn't show for his sign in today."

"Son of a bitch!" swore EJ his new found calm deserting him again at confirmation of what he'd suspected all along, "I knew it!"

"Wait a minute," said Kate determine to protect her son, "Let's not all jump to conclusions here - what if something has happened to Lucas and that is why he hasn't checked in?"

"Not yet it hasn't," bit out EJ, "But it's going to!"

"EJ!" said Roman sharply, "You stay out of this - I'm warning you, this is official police business now and we'll handle it."

"Fine," said EJ, his mood suddenly changing, "Am I able to get dressed now?"

"Yours and Sami's bedroom is a crime scene now but I'll get one of the forensics guys to clear your closet so you can get dressed. And then I want you and John to head straight down to the hospital and get checked over and have your bloods taken, okay? One of my men will take you."

"Fine," said EJ suddenly sounding calm.

"Alrighty then," said Roman, "That's better. And after the hospital my man will drive you back to the station and we can interview you both."

"Fine," said EJ again, "Can we just hurry this up please Roman?"

Roman called over one of the uniformed officers and told him to speak to forensics upstairs and organise for EJ to have access to his clothes.

"And Kate," said Roman when he was done, "I'm going to want to speak to you as well, so you'd better come on down to the station as well."

"This is ridiculous!" she protested, "I don't know anything about this Roman - I'm as shocked as everyone else."

"That may well be the case," said Roman calmly, "But I still need to talk with you."

"Sir," another uniform police officer interrupted them, "We found these out in the front garden."

The man held up Sami's wedding and engagement rings that EJ had given her in his gloved hands and EJ winced internally to see them.

"Sami's?" asked Roman but the look on the other man's face gave him his answer.

"Yes," said EJ roughly, "Can I have them?"

"They're evidence EJ," said Roman regretfully, seeing the other man's pain, "Forensics might be able to find something on them."

"Actually sir," said the officer apologetically, "We only just noticed them, people have been walking back and forth over the top of them all morning so I don't think there is going to be anything of use to be found on them now, if there ever was."

Roman looked at the rings in the officer's hand - that certainly explained the state they were in, covered in mud and dirt.

"Please Roman," said EJ quietly and Roman relented.

"You took photo's of where they were found?" asked Roman and was told yes, "Alright EJ - you can have them back."

The officer handed them back to EJ and he looked at them in his hand for a long moment before carefully setting about the task of cleaning them. When he was done he pocketed her diamond engagement ring and then took her wedding ring and slid it onto the little finger of his left hand.

"For safe keeping," he said softly, when he looked up to see Roman looking at him, "Until I can put it back on her finger."

"EJ," said Roman, his voice strong and reassuring sounding, "This is my baby girl we're talking about her and my grandchildren. I am going to do anything and everything to bring them home safely. There is nothing I won't do to make that happen do you understand me?"

"I know," said EJ giving him a weak smile, "I know Roman. I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean to go off like that but they're my family you know?"

"I know," said Roman, putting a comforting hand on EJ's shoulder, "They're my family too. We'll find them."

EJ just nodded grimly and said nothing. Fifteen minutes later he'd just been given the go ahead to get some clothes from his closet and was doing just that while he made some phone calls. He didn't care what Roman said, he wasn't going to be leaving the fate of his family in the hands of the Salem police department.

There was just too much at stake.

**oooOOOOooo**

Sami came slowly awake, wondering why her mouth was so dry. She moved her tongue around to try and moisten her mouth a little and blearily tried to focus on the greyish blob in front of her. She was still in bed, lying on her side and she wondered if she was indeed coming down with something after all because she felt decidedly off right about now. Eventually she managed to focus and realised that the greyish blob was in fact Rolf.

"Rolf!" she said hoarsely, frowning at him, "What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?"

"Vell technically I not," he said with a rueful shrug.

"What are you talking about?" said Sami grumpily, never a morning person at the best of times and certainly not today, "I'm not in the mood for any crazy today."

"Vell I zink zat may be a problem Zamantha," said Rolf ironically, "Becauze zat iz all zat's on za menu today."

"What's going on Rolf?" asked Sami, starting to get worried and struggling to sit up.

Sami looked around the dim room and realised to her horror she wasn't in her bedroom at all.

"EJ?" she said, looking around her and finding she was alone in the bed, "Rolf, what's going on here! Where are Johnny and Ali?"

"Za kinder are fine Zamantha," he reassured her, "I just gave zem something to eat and zey are playing happily."

"Where are they, I want to see them?!" she said in growing panic, "What's happened Rolf? What's going on."

"Vell," said Rolf, obviously trying to find the right words that wouldn't upset her further, "It appearz zat ve have been kidnapped Zamantha."

"Kidnapped?" repeated Sami in horror, "We've been kidnapped - are you kidding me?!"

"I vas surprised too," said Rolf with a knowing nod, "Vone minute I am reading za new Harry Potter book and za next… poof!… I am here. Now I fear I vill never know who dies in za end of za book."

"But where is here?" asked Sami in growing terror, ignoring Rolf's concerns, "Who did this? Why??"

The door swung open just at that moment and Samantha had the answer to at least one of those questions when she saw who was standing there.

"_You_!" she cried out in wide eyed shock, "I don't _believe_ this!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter FOURTEEN**

EJ and John climbed the front stairs of the palliative care hospice just outside of the Salem city limits. They'd spent all of the morning and half of the afternoon at the police station, giving their statements and it seemed to EJ, getting nowhere. As soon as Roman told them they were free to go he had gone back to the mansion, got in his car and driven here and some how John had tagged along for the ride as well.

"So tell me again why we're here nephew?" asked John, "You said you rang earlier and they confirmed Stefano was still sleeping the sleep of the eternally damned."

"I just want to make sure I check everything," said EJ grimly, "Lucas must have had help - there is no way he had the resources to just disappear the way he has. Kate's claims that she had nothing to do with the whole thing seems to be checking out so I just want to make sure I leave no stone unturned in finding my family."

EJ walked up to the reception desk and smiled charmingly at the young nurse behind it.

"Hello," he said evenly, "I was just wondering if we would be able to see Stefano DiMera today please?"

"And sorry, who you are both?" she asked them with a polite smile.

"Disinherited son and usurping half brother," supplied John happily.

EJ grimaced internally at John's brutal honesty.

"My Uncle is a bit of a joker," said EJ, turning the charm up a couple of notches to try gain the woman's trust, "I'm his son EJ DiMera and this is my Uncle, John Black and we really would be most appreciative if we could see my father today."

"Right," said the nurse with a bit of a frown, "Well it is past visiting hours. We normally don't allow visitors after 3pm."

EJ moved a little closer, giving her his most brilliant smile along with a warm look - he knew it could be a deadly combination if he wanted it to and he wanted it to right then.

"Look Nurse…" he trailed off, looking at her expectantly.

"Taylor," she supplied, "Violet Taylor."

"Violet," he said huskily, "What a simply lovely name."

"Ah thanks," she said, blushing a little under the man's close scrutiny wondering if she'd ever seen a more handsome man in her life, at least one that wasn't on a movie screen.

"I'm heading back to London tonight," he lied smoothly, "And I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back here."

"I understand," she said sympathetically, "But rules are rules and I can't just let you…"

"Look Violet," he said, "Sorry, may I call you Violet?"

"If you like," she said weakly, feeling her heart give a little flutter at the sound of her name being said in those rich, accented tones.

"Violet," he said, looking very serious and almost forlorn, "The last time my father and I spoke we didn't part on good terms. Then when this happened I realised that I may never be able to rectify that. I know that he is in a coma but it would mean the absolute world to me if you were to allow me the chance to tell him how sorry I am and how much he means to me. I don't want my last words to my father to be the harsh ones we parted on. Please Violet, if you could find it in your heart to bend the rules, just this once. I promise you, we'll only be a minute - just long enough to tell my father that I love him."

"I guess," said Violet, biting her lip anxiously, touched by his story and finding those big brown eyes particularly hard to say no to, "But only for a minute - if someone catches you I'll be in big trouble."

"Violet," said EJ warmly, leaning across the desk and pressing a kiss to her cheek, "You are a treasure beyond price."

Violet gave a little embarrassed half giggle, feeling herself flush at his attentions.

"He's in room 308," she told them, trying to regain her composure, "Down the hall, turn left and it's second on your right."

EJ smiled at her and John gave his usual blank look and the two men set off.

"That was pretty good nephew," said John flatly, "Even I was beginning to choke up there for a minute. You did everything except tell her that you ran over your puppy on the way here."

"That was my back up story Uncle," said EJ dryly, intent now on getting to his father's room and checking at least one possibility off his list of co-conspirators with Lucas.

"Excuse me!" he heard Nurse Violet calling out behind them, "Mr DiMera!"

EJ grimaced but then turned around with a brilliant smile.

"Yes Violet?" he smiled down at the woman who was chasing them down, "Is something the matter?"

"I just need you to sign the visitors log," she said, indicating the clip board she was holding, "I've put down that you visited at 2:38pm, just to make it look all above board."

"Thank you Violet," said EJ, taking the offered pen and clip board and nodding for his uncle to continue on, "I can't tell you what it means to me."

EJ caught John up a minute later and stood at the door of 308. John was standing by the bed of the occupant but a half screen blocked EJ's view of the man.

"So?" EJ prompted him, starting into the room.

"Well it's the worst case of bed hair I've ever seen," said John expressionlessly, "And is it just me or does my half brother look completely different horizontal then he does vertical?"

By this time had walked round to the foot of the bed and saw what his uncle was talking about. The man in the bed was not his father. He was roughly the right size and age but he wasn't Stefano DiMera.

"It's not him," said EJ grimly.

_Would this man never die?!_

"I guess that would explain it too," mused John, "So who is he then?"

EJ tilted his head and squinted, realising he recognised him.

"Carlo DelVechio," said EJ tensely, "He used to be one of father's accountants."

"I'm guessing that it isn't a co-incidence that he just happened to find himself in a coma around about the time Stefano wanted to pull a fast one hm?" said John expressionlessly, "That is a hell of a retirement plan my brother has got going there for his employees."

Violet reappeared then and gave them a nervous look.

"I'm sorry," she apologised, "But I'm going to have to ask you both to leave, there is going to be a change of shift in another ten minutes and it would be better for us all if you were gone by then. Did you get to say goodbye to your father Mr DiMera?"

"Not exactly Violet," said EJ stoically, turning around to face her, "He's not my father."

"What do you mean?" she asked in consternation.

"That," said EJ, jabbing a finger at the man in the bed, "Is not Stefano DiMera."

"Of course he is," she said in confusion, "I was here when he was admitted with all the paper work, this is Stefano DiMera, at least that is what all of his ID said."

"Apparently there has been a small error," said EJ wryly, "Because let me assure you Violet, that poor unfortunate is not my father."

"Oh dear," said Violet worriedly, "I think I'd better go and get someone."

"Well Stefano would be great if you could," said John ironically, "Otherwise how about the administrator of this place."

Violet scurried off and left EJ and John looking down at the man who wasn't Stefano.

"So everyone has been thinking that this is Stefano all along," said John thoughtfully, "Guess this makes a strong argument for visiting parents that you institutionalise once and a while huh? Maybe they put it in one of their brochures by way of a cautionary tale."

"It had to have been my father helping Lucas," said EJ expressionlessly, ignoring John's ramblings, "He had the resources and he has always wanted Johnny, it also explains Rolf's involvement."

"I have control of your father's estate," said John with a frown, "My people would have noticed money moving around."

"Please," said EJ with a humourless laugh, "My father has so many business interests that never make it onto anything resembling legitimate books."

"So I could be even richer than I think," said John with interest, "Nice."

EJ shook his head at his uncle and pulled out his cell phone, dialling a number that was becoming increasingly familiar.

"Mr Newman," he said calmly, "I've got some new information, I need you to dig deeper for me."

**oooOOOOooo**

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" said Sami, shaking her head at the man as he walked into the room, leaning heavily on his cane.

"And it is so lovely to see you too Samantha," said Stefano not without some irony.

"You're in a coma," she said weakly even though it was quite obvious that he wasn't.

"Not any more I'm not," he said, stopping a few feet away from, "No thanks to your mother."

"What do you mean by that?" scowled Sami.

"Marlena was the one who injected me with the drug that caused my catatonia," said Stefano almost casually.

"You're lying!" spat out Sami, "My mother would never do something like that - even to someone like you."

"It appears Samantha that you don't know your mother as well as you think you do," commented Stefano idly, "Because I can assure you my dear that she did do exactly that."

Sami shook her head at him, unwilling to believe anything that man told her but she had more pressing concerns right now.

"Where are my children?" she asked him harshly.

"Playing quite happily in the nursery down the hall," said Stefano mildly, "I just came from there."

"I don't want you anywhere near my children!" she snarled, going to move past him and go to them but two large men appeared behind Stefano, blocking her path.

"My son might have been happy to take orders from you Samantha," said Stefano, his voice hardening, "But you will not find me so accommodating I can assure you."

"Where is EJ?" asked Sami worriedly, "Have you hurt him? What have you done?"

"Elvis is dead to me," said Stefano coldly, "He's has disappointed me one time too many. He turned his back on his family, on his heritage and for what… for you!"

Stefano looked Sami up and down insultingly and shook his head, tutting away.

"Such weakness can not be tolerated in anyone who wishes to carry the DiMera name," said Stefano, "I have no further interest in Elvis or his brother and sister since they left me to die in that hospital bed."

"But you didn't die," said Sami, relieved that EJ at least was okay which she meant that he was looking for them even now, she knew he was.

"Despite your mother's best attempts I awoke from my coma just before I was to be moved to the…" Stefano made a distasteful noise, "… the place they wanted to intern me to see out the rest of my days in. I made arrangements that no one would realise what had happened."

"What kind of arrangements?" asked Sami in confusion.

"Let's just say that accountants can be far more useful than just balancing books," said Stefano with a humourless smile.

"What does that mean?" asked Sami, bewildered.

"It doesn't matter Samantha," he said dismissively, bored with the conversation now.

"What do you want from me?" she asked him, trying to remain calm although she was very frightened of the answer but didn't want to show him that.

"You?" said Stefano with a shrug, "Nothing."

"Then why am I here?" asked Sami, looking at Rolf and becoming nervous at the other man's pained expression.

"You were part of the deal," said Stefano calmly, "I wouldn't have bothered myself but then…"

He shrugged.

"But love makes fools of us all eh Samantha?" he finished.

"Love?" she repeated in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"He's talking about the fact that I still love you Sami."

Lucas appeared from behind the two men, walking in to the room and standing between her and Stefano.

"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Sami staring at her ex-husband wide eyed.

"I zink from now on you can assume zat zere is no joke Zamantha," said Rolf, speaking at last, "If vill zave everyvun some time."

Sami looked dazedly at Rolf and then back at Lucas.

"What is this Lucas?" she asked him, the shock starting to give way to anger, "What have you done?"

"Lucas here was very helpful," said Stefano, "He gave me information about you and the twins Samantha, so much so that last night we were able to arrange it so that whilst the rest of your family slept, some of my men were able to come and take you and your children out of the house undetected."

"You _helped_ this maniac?" asked Sami, her voice starting to rise, "Why would you do something like that Lucas? Why?!"

"I love you Sami," said Lucas urgently, stepping closer to her and putting his hands on her arms, "I don't want to lose you. I know we've had our problems but I also know that if we could just spend some time together, away from everyone else then we could sort out everything and be happy like we used to be."

"We were never happy Lucas!" said Sami angrily, beginning to get a little frightened because it was almost like he believed what he was saying could actually happen.

"Don't say that Sami," said Lucas painfully, "We were and we can be again, you, me and Ali."

Sami looked at him, a feeling of dread suddenly overtaking her.

"What… what is this?" she asked looking between Lucas and Stefano fearfully, "What have you done Lucas?"

"Lucas has simply brokered a deal by where everyone gets what they want," said Stefano smoothly, 'He has his… adoring wife returned to him along with his daughter and I have Gianni to raise as a DiMera worthy of the name."

"Wh… what?" said Sami weakly, taking an unsteady step back as she began to realise what it was the two men had been planning.

"You, Lucas and your daughter will be leaving here to start a new life," said Stefano as this was the most normal thing in the world, "As will Gianni and I."

"You… no…" stammered Sami, "You're not… Lucas?"

"It will be fine," said Lucas, tensely, "Johnny won't want for anything. Stefano is his grandfather, he loves him and will look after him."

"You… you expect me to just hand over my baby to this monster?" asked Sami in horror, "He's my son! He's Ali's brother! How could you even think of something like this Lucas, let alone help it happen!"

"It's for the best Sami," said Lucas urgently, "It was the only way we could be together, don't you see? You and Ali and I can be a family again and Johnny will have his grandfather."

"How can you even begin to think that I would be alright with this?" screamed Sami, "He's my son Lucas! You're telling me I have to give up my son like it's nothing! I won't do it! You can't make me!!"

"Actually you have no say in it Samantha," said Stefano dismissively, "It is done."

"NO!" she shouted and looked pleadingly at Rolf, "Rolf, please, can't you do something? Help me!"

"I am zorry Zamantha," said Rolf and he really was.

He'd grown quite fond of this rather manic young woman and would not wish something like this one her. He knew how much she loved those children but neither one of them were in any kind of permission to argue. He knew Stefano and how quickly his moods could change. If he wanted to Sami and her daughter would never make it out of this house alive and Rolf didn't want that for her. If something was to be done about this then they needed to chose their moment and now was not that moment.

"Please!" sobbed Sami, almost hysterical now, "I'll do anything, just don't take my son, I'm begging you, please Stefano!"

"But it's only fair Samantha," said Stefano, unmoved by her tears, "You took my son and now I'm taking yours. Can't you see the poetry in that my dear?"

"You animal!" she screamed, lunging at him so that Lucas had to grab her to restrain her, "I'm going to kill you!"

"Now, now Mrs DiMera," he tutted unaffected by her threats, "That is no way to carry on eh? You have fulfilled your role in Gianni's life - he no longer needs you. I will be all that he needs, all that he knows. I will have my legacy Samantha and seeing as my son does not wish to fulfil his birthright then I find it only fitting that his son will."

With Lucas still holding Sami back Stefano turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him. As the door clicked shut Sami began to scream and found that she couldn't stop.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter FIFTEEN**

EJ moved his weight from one foot to the other, his attention focused on the old house behind the high wrought iron fence. It looked like it hadn't been used in years but it was certainly being used now. An armed guard walked by his field of view and EJ instinctively moved back into the shrubbery to avoid detection. The tree line with the thick shrubs was about 300 feet from the main gate and provided ample coverage for someone who wanted to remain undetected as he did right then. EJ absently scratched at his two day old beard that had started to grow, shaving not being his top priority at the moment.

Mr Newman had turned out to be quite the resourceful hire in the end. He'd been keeping tabs on phone calls made by Lucas as part of his surveillance that EJ had engaged him for but there had been nothing out of the ordinary to cause any kind of concern before Sami and the twins had been taken. It was only after finding out that his father was involved that EJ had him double checking his records. Bill Newman was an ex-FBI agent and still had contacts in the job and had been able to discover that what had seemed to be perfectly innocent phone calls to an adult training centre had actually been re-routed from the house that EJ was now currently standing in front of.

It wasn't so much a house as a manor really; high columns flanking a formerly impressive, sweeping staircase up into the house proper. The obviously once grand lady had seen better days as had the gardens which were over run and unkempt. But EJ wasn't so concerned with the outward appearance of the building but what it held captive behind its' slowly decaying walls. It was the afternoon of the following day that he and John had discovered Stefano's deceptions, Mr Newman only being able to find out the exact location of the phone calls Lucas was making by lunch time that day. They were about two hours out of Salem and they'd had to take several beaten tracks to get here. It was suitably isolated and had obviously been serving as a kind of half way house for his father since his little slight of hand with the coma patient switcheroo.

There was currently a lot of activity going on, with the guards patrolling back and forth and a van and a couple of cars had driven up 15 minutes ago. Every instinct EJ had told him to just storm the castle and take his family back but good sense prevailed and even though it was slowly killing him he stood there, keeping watch and waiting for Roman and his men to arrive from Salem and even up the odds somewhat. He hadn't told them about the information from Mr Newman right away, instead he and John driving up here themselves in the hopes that it might be something they could handle themselves. It had quickly become obvious that it wasn't going to be the case as there seemed to be more than a couple of Stefano's usual goons moving about but EJ wasn't sure how many more there were. In fact that was where John was now, doing a little recognisance around the perimeter of the enclosure.

"Two patrolling the front and one at the back."

EJ gave a little start at the sound of John's voice in his ear. He'd been so focused on watching the house that he hadn't heard the other man come up behind him. John arched an eyebrow at having caught him off guard considering the circumstances but didn't comment.

"They're both armed and I saw at least another two go into the house," he continued on in his usual expressionless fashion.

"Samantha, the twins?" asked EJ a little hopefully but thinking his Uncle would have told him that first if he had seen them.

"Didn't see them," confirmed John, "Or the convict or Stefano. He'll be keeping everyone inside until they're ready to make their move."

EJ nodded solemnly, turning back to look at the house again.

"Which I think is going to be soon," added John, "There is a lot of movement going on out the back – they're loading up a van so I don't know how much longer we're going to be able to just stand here and wait for the cavalry."

"If they get Samantha and the twins in that van we could lose them for good," frowned EJ, already starting to work out a plan in his head, "We can't let that happen Uncle John. Roman won't be here for at least another twenty minutes, even if they break every road rule in the book. I think we're going to have to go in and get them out ourselves."

"Well you know what they say nephew," said John stoically, "Two in the bushes are worth one piece of ham."

EJ momentarily forgot his plotting and looked at his uncle, shaking his head in bewilderment.

"Uncle John," he said flatly, "Even _you_ can't think that that was right. It's two in the bushes are worth _one in the hand_."

"Oh right," scoffed John, "Because that makes _so_ much more sense. No wonder they call them idiots."

"Idioms Uncle," said EJ in exasperation, "They're called _idioms_!"

John seemed to think about that and then shrugged while EJ looked on in a kind of desperate resignation. He was contemplating placing the life of his family in the hands' of a man who seemed to struggle sometimes with the most basic of things. It didn't exactly scream confidence in a good outcome here.

"Look are you sure you're up to this?" scowled EJ, "If we're going to go in there I need to know that you're going to have my back Uncle John."

"I'm fine," said John stoically, "You're the one who seems a little flustered all of a sudden."

EJ blew out a noisy breath and attempted taking in a calming one.

"Uncle John, this is Samantha and the twins we're talking about here," said EJ he said evenly, "I cant' have anything go wrong."

"Elvis," said John, holding his gaze steadily, "Of all the things I've forgotten… _this_ is the one thing I remember."

EJ looked back at him, suddenly realising properly for the first time exactly how much John had lost at the hands of his father.

"I was trained to kill," said John, "It's the only thing I really know for sure."

EJ grimaced and nodded.

"So?" said John, quirking his head at him, "Aren't you going to tell me not to kill people? Blondie's always telling me not to kill people… she's funny like that."

"I want my family back," said EJ, his face hard, "_Whatever_ that takes."

"Now there's a game plan I can get behind," said John and he almost sounded happy, "So what's the plan nephew?"

"I think we should split up, if one of us is detected at least the other has a chance at finding Samantha and the twins," said EJ, "While the guards are being distracted."

"I'm distracting," noted John evenly and EJ had to give a little smile at that.

"That you are Uncle," he agreed wryly, "That you are."

"I'll take the back," said John, "I know where I'm going now. You take the front. I'm going to assume that you've brought a gun with you?"

EJ nodded.

"You?" he asked.

"I prefer the hands on approach," said John stoically, "It adds a personal touch I think."

He looked at his Uncle and realised there was a whole other level of scary to his him that he'd never really dwelt on before. EJ decided that despite his sometimes… limited grasp of how things worked in the world, he was still someone you wanted around in a crisis and was grateful he was on his side. Their plan decided on they both went their separate ways.

"Uncle John," said EJ quietly, stalling the other man as he went to go.

John turned back to him and quirked an enquiring eyebrow at him.

"Lucas is mine," he said, his voice hard and dripping with menace.

John gave an understanding grim little smile and nodded before seeming to almost melt into the overgrowth around him. EJ waited until the guard was out of sight and had worked out from his own surveillance that he had another good minute and a half to move from the tree line, scale the fence and get to some of the overgrown bushes that flanked the house itself. He could do that - he was fit and highly motivated.

The thought made him recall Samantha saying the same thing while brandishing a spork at John and himself and he felt a wave of emotion at the memory. EJ squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the nearly all consuming fear that he would never see her again or that she or the twins might be scared or hurt in anyway. He couldn't let himself think about that because when he did it near crippled him and they needed him now, needed him to be strong. He had to shut down that part of him that was bereft husband and a father and just focus on what needed to be done to have his family in his arms again.

The guard moved out of EJ's view again and he made his move. He'd never been more grateful for his long legs than right now when he covered the distance to the fence and made short work of the 12 foot wrought iron barrier. The next part was the most dangerous because he was utterly exposed while he made a dash for a particularly overgrown rhododendron bush but lady luck was on his side and he made it there undetected. EJ settled back into it's leafy protection as another guard walked back along the front of the house, so close now that if he'd wanted to he could have reached out and touched him. The first guard suddenly appeared and the two of them stopped to talk directly in front of where EJ was hiding.

"We need you round the back," he said, "The old man wants to make his move now, we need to load the last of the stuff into the van."

"Right," said the other guard and they both moved away.

It looked like John was going to be having a bit of company but it also meant that EJ was going to have an almost clear run at getting into the house undetected. He waited until he was sure they were gone and crept slowly along the front wall of the house and up to the front stairs. Amazingly when he got to the front door it was open. Despite all of Stefano's long use of goons he rarely seemed to be able to find any that were even mildly competent. Something EJ was very grateful for right now. He moved almost silently through the front door to find the hallway empty, there were some noises off in the distance which he assumed must be where all the men were loading the van.

EJ walked down the hallway, keeping his footsteps determinedly light, not wanting to advertise his presence before it was strictly necessary. He came up to an archway on his left and he carefully poked his head around it to see what was inside. Straight through to the other side of the room was another archway through which he could see the beginnings of a stair case. The bedrooms would be located up there and it was the most likely place that Sami and the twins would be kept in until it was time to leave.

EJ was about to go into the room and make his way to the stair case when Rolf suddenly walked in the room. EJ tensed, waiting to see what he was going to do. The other man looked tense and distressed, looking around himself nervously before hurrying to the phone and picking it up. He dialled a number and waited for it to be answered, still looking around worriedly.

"Oh hello y'all," he said when someone obviously picked up, "I am making ze call about Zami DiMera kidnapping… y'all…"

EJ winced, Rolf was obviously trying to disguise his accent. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going for there but it was quite painful to listen to and like no accent he'd ever heard before. He assumed it was Rolf's take on American because he was attempting to use some of the lingo with extremely limited success. All that aside though it was obvious that Rolf was trying to help Samantha and that was a good thing. EJ still didn't know if Rolf had been the one to drug them all but even if he had he seemed to be having a change of heart. He was just about to make his presence known when one of the burly guards walked into the room and Rolf hastily hung up.

"Who was that?" the guard demanded to know.

"Telemarketer," said Rolf hastily, "And ze zay we are criminals."

The guard just scowled, unsure of what to make of this strange man but the old man wanted him around so… whatever.

"We're almost ready to go," he told him, "Get your stuff together."

"Very vell," said Rolf with a fixed smile.

The guard then lumbered out of the room and again EJ went to say something but just then John suddenly appeared at the large bay window to Rolf's left and the two men's eyes met. Rolf gave a visible start at seeing the other man standing outside. John arched an unimpressed eyebrow at Rolf and glared at him, obviously unhappy with what he saw as the other man's betrayal. He pointed to Rolf and then made a neck snapping movement with his hands. Rolf hastily shook his head, obviously eager to defend himself. He made a motion like he was reading a book and then he suddenly slumped forward before blearily opening his eyes and looking around wildly. John looked unimpressed by the man's silent defence and made out like he was holding something up and then promptly made his other hand into a pair of scissors and snipped it off. EJ winced again, not taking that as a good sign and judging by Rolf's frantic waving of his arms, either did the he.

EJ just shook his head in disbelief as he watched the two men continue their game of charades through the window at each other. He had entrusted his family's safety to the modern day version of Laurel and Hardy - _what_ had he been thinking?! They were both as crazy as each other as they kept at the absurd display of acting out their own little conversation between the two of them. EJ would have laughed out loud if there wasn't so much at stake. The thought of taking out his gun and just shooting them both occurred but he decided he might need the bullets later on. Just then one of the guards appeared over John's right shoulder and EJ groaned internally. Great, while these two were playing parlour games they'd given away the element of surprise. Rolf saw the guard too and frantically began to point at him to which John just frowned and looked unconvinced that he should turn around.

EJ shook his head, this just couldn't get worse… but he was wrong.

EJ suddenly realised he wasn't the only one watching the fun and games between the two men, anther guard observing them undetected as yet. Although it was hard to imagine how. This man was huge, like had his own gravitational pull kind of huge and EJ silently willed Rolf to turn round. Miraculously that seemed to work because Rolf did indeed chose that moment to turn his head and saw the man mountain looking at him, decidedly unamused by their antics.

"Ah… intruder?" suggested Rolf hopefully that this might get him out of this but it didn't look like the man was buying what he was selling.

The giant advanced on Rolf and EJ knew he had to do something and began to move into the room as well towards the other two. Out of the corner of his eye he could see John finally realising that someone was indeed behind him and the two of the duking it out. Rolf saw EJ then and looked shocked but reacted quickly and took everyone by surprise, probably himself most of all. Rolf suddenly launched himself at the huge man and grabbed him around the neck which meant his feet were off the ground now and he dangled there like some rather bizarre human necklace. The man staggered back, more from surprise probably than anything else as he too saw EJ.

"Run Elvis," shouted Rolf, "Upstairz, down ze hall, zecond on ze left! Hurry!"

EJ knew that this was the only chance he was going to get and although he was almost sure he was leaving Rolf to a probably painful death he had to find his family. He bolted past the other two men who by this time, Rolf had somehow managed to get onto the man's back, clinging on like some demented koala as the other man tried desperately to shake him free. Rolf was surprisingly nimble for a man of his age and if he lived through this, EJ was going to have to thank him for his sacrifice.

EJ took the stairs three at a time, desperate to find Samantha and the twins. He followed Rolf's instructions and threw open the door, catching the man inside off guard. EJ felled him with one punch before he could even make a sound. It felt so good to hit someone and the only pity was that it wasn't Lucas. There was a cot against the back wall and EJ rushed to it to find his son sitting up and chewing on a teething ring, not seeming to have noticed the commotion.

"Johnny!" exclaimed EJ, a catch in his voice as he swooped down and picked his son up in his arms and hugging him tightly, unsure if he'd ever be able to let him go again, "Johnny!"

Johnny made an excited noise at seeing his father and grinned a big toothless grin at him which made the tears well up in EJ's eyes. He'd been so afraid he would never see that smile again and it was overwhelming to have him in his arms again. EJ squeezed his eyes shut and pressed a long kiss to Johnny's forehead, breathing in the familiar baby scent of him. The sound of sirens quite close brought EJ back to reality and Johnny started in his arms and his lower lip curled, not liking the harsh sound.

"It's alright sweetheart," he comforted him, rubbing his back, "That will be your grandad - better late than never eh?"

Johnny's face brightened at the sound of his father's voice and the smile returned to his face. EJ ran his hands over him, trying to see if he was hurt anywhere but Johnny looked fine and he could have cried with the relief.

"Alright little man," he said softly, kissing him again, "Let's find your mother and sister. Any clues for your old dad as to which room they're in?"

Johnny gurgled responsively but wasn't overly helpful. He needed to find Samantha and Ali and he needed to do it quickly. Police cars were beginning to pour in through the front gate as EJ and Johnny watched from the window. A movement directly below him caught EJ's eyes and he looked down to see a car with an open door beneath the window. A man was jumping into the drivers seat and then suddenly the top of a greying head appeared from what must have been a side entrance and put a hand on top of the open door.

As though he could sense himself being watched the man slowly turned around, craning his neck and looked up at the window. Father and son's eyes met and held each others gaze for a long moment, a world of emotion and recrimination on both parties behalf passing silently between them. EJ pressed Johnny closer to him, holding onto his son protectively from the evil of a man EJ had once worshiped blindly.

But no more.

This wasn't over between them, they both knew that but EJ wasn't willing to put Johnny in anymore danger and even though he could hear Roman's men starting to make their way through the house he had a feeling the old man would give them the slip yet. Somewhere deep inside EJ knew that a time of reckoning was coming between he and his father but today wasn't going to be that day. The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs told him that Roman's men were finally there and he called out, letting them know he was there. Still holding Johnny tightly to him he walked down the stairs to see Roman at the bottom of them.

"EJ!" he called out, hurrying up to meet him halfway, he put a hand on the back of Johnny's head, "Is he alright?"

"I think so," said EJ worriedly, "But I really want Johnny to be checked out as soon as possible. Have you found Samantha and Ali yet?"

There were a lot of rooms to the house and she and Ali had to be in one of them… and the vicious little toe rag that had made all this happen. God but he wanted to be the one who found him first but maybe Roman would give him a little 'alone' time with the troll - call it an early wedding present. A muffled noise from the next room made EJ realise something.

"Rolf," he told Roman, "He helped John and I - is John alright?"

"He's fine," said John, suddenly appearing at the bottom of the stairs, "Didn't kill anyone though."

And he sounded most disappointed by the fact.

"That's a good thing John," Roman reminded him dryly as both he and EJ walked down the stairs together.

"So everyone keeps telling me," said John flatly sounding less than convinced.

The three men and Johnny walked into the room where Rolf was still making strangely muffled noises from and the reason quickly became apparent. He was pinned, face down on the floor under the weight of the hippopotamic henchman that EJ had left him attempting to tackle before making a dash upstairs and finding Johnny.

It looked liked he'd actually won the skirmish rather remarkably because the other man was unconscious and EJ made a mental note to ask him how exactly he managed that at some other time. However it looked like the absolute giant of a man was going to have the last laugh because it looked as though he was currently crushing Rolf to death with all of that mass pressing him down into the hard wooden floor.

"A little help?" said Rolf around a groan as they all just stood there for a moment and looked at him without doing anything.

Roman and John looked at each other and then grabbed an arm each of the enormous man and pulled him off Rolf. The man made a loud thud noise when he hit the ground and the ground actually shook a little. EJ hoped his father didn't pay these guys by the pound otherwise it must have been costing him a small fortune. Johnny made a little hiccuping noise and it quickly pulled EJ's focus onto what was most important.

"Rolf," said EJ urgently, crouching down beside the still prone man who apart from taking a couple of painful sounding breaths hadn't moved yet, "Where are Samantha and Ali? Which room are they in, are they alright?"

Rolf lifted his head and seriously considered the fact that he might have broken a few ribs in that little skirmish. He looked up at EJ as he still lay face down on the ground and grimaced.

"I'm zorry Elvis," he said regretfully, his voice still a little unsteady.

"What?" asked EJ, his anxiety level starting to rise again, "What are you sorry about Rolf? Are they alright - has Lucas done something to them?"

Johnny began to squirm in EJ's arms and he realised he'd inadvertently started to tighten his arms around his son as the all too familiar fear began to overtake him again and he instantly relaxed his grip, pressing an apologetic kiss to Johnny's forehead.

"Zey are gone Elvis," said Rolf sympathetically, "I'm zorry - Lucas haz taken zem already - zis morning."

EJ stood up shakily and took a couple of unsteady steps back, this new information making him almost physically ill. He thought that this was over, that he and Samantha and Ali and Johnny would be together again but it didn't look like fate was going to be that kind to him today. EJ felt a white hot rage build in him that this should be happening to Samantha and Ali, that a man who had always purported to love them was inflicting this kind of suffering on them.

"We'll find them," said Roman, putting a comforting hand on EJ's shoulder, "They can't have gotten far, we'll find them EJ."

EJ nodded numbly, not feeling overly reassured by the other man's assertions but said nothing.

"Hey," said Rolf weakly as everyone seemed to have forgotten he was there and dropping his head back on the floor, "Who vould like to drive Uncle Rolf to za hozpital? I zink my lung just collapzed."

"You're fine," said John unsympathetically to which Rolf just groaned.

EJ wasn't listening anymore, he just walked away with Johnny, lost in his own dark thoughts. He would make Lucas pay for this, one way or the other - that man's life was over - EJ would make sure of that, even if it was the last thing he did this side of the grave.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter SIXTEEN**

It was the throbbing in her head that eventually woke Sami and she struggled to regain her wits. She was lying on a double bed and the room was dark. She slowly sat up and swung her legs around to the side of the bed and waited for the shaky feeling to leave her. Looking around she saw the room was quite small, with low ceilings and simple furnishings. It looked a little odd but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was different about the room. Finally her head began to clear and she remembered what had happened to her and she jumped up, almost falling in her weakened state and spun around, feeling a flood of relief at seeing the cot in the corner. She rushed over to it to find Ali fast asleep in it. Sami put out an unsteady hand to check that her daughter was indeed asleep and she stirred a little but didn't wake up.

The presence of Ali and not Johnny made Sami give a choked gasp as she realised that Stefano had gone through with his threats and that he had Johnny while she and Ali… well Sami had no idea where she and her daughter currently were or even how long it had been since she'd last seen Johnny. After Stefano had told her his intentions and she'd begun to scream it had taken two people to restrain her and then there had been sudden darkness again. She could only assume that they'd sedated her to keep her quiet and get her and Ali where they needed to be. Sami didn't know long she'd out for but her empty stomach told her it had been a while since she'd last eaten. As though on cue there was a knock on the door and Lucas appeared from behind the closed door with a tray of food. Sami glared at him, still hardly able to believe that he'd done this to her and her children.

"I bought you something to eat," he said rather unnecessarily, "You haven't eaten in a while and…"

"I don't want anything from you except my son!" she snapped, interrupting him, "Where is Johnny Lucas?"

"You know where he is," said Lucas evenly, setting the tray down on a nearby little table, "He's with his grandfather."

"How could you Lucas?" said Sami, angry tears welling up in her eyes, "You gave my son over to that monster like he was something you could just buy and sell? How _dare_ you?! You left him with a murderer; he's just a defenceless little baby!"

"Stefano won't hurt him," said Lucas, his jaw clenching, "He gave me his word."

"Oh," scoffed Sami angrily and then lowered her voice to a fierce hiss when Ali stirred a little, "You were the one who told me that Stefano's word meant nothing when he promised to end the vendetta if I married EJ. You were the one who told me that Stefano couldn't be trusted! And now all of a sudden you're handing my son over to him and telling me that he 'gave you his word' and I should be fine with that?! Are you insane Lucas? What if this had been Will? How could you ever think that I would be alright about this?!"

"We'll talk about this later," said Lucas, his face hard, "When you've calmed down."

"I am never going to 'calm down' about this Lucas," she bit out, enraged that he could think that even possible, "And I promise you, I will _never_ forgive you for what you've done to Johnny!"

"You're just upset," he said calmly, not seeming to be accepting her words at face value, "You'll see, it's for the best."

Sami just gave him a mortified look, it was like he'd managed to completely delude himself about this whole situation and she couldn't seem to get him to understand the enormity of what he had done.

"Lucas how can you even…" her disbelief was interrupted when she staggered to one side, suddenly off balance.

"Careful," he said, putting up a hand to steady her which she swatted away.

"Are we… are we on a boat?" she asked in confusion, realising her unsteadiness wasn't solely because of her weakened state.

"Yes," he said simply.

"But you don't know how to drive a boat!" she said anxiously, suddenly fearful for Ali's safety - even more than before, "Especially not one this big!"

"You sail a boat," he corrected her wryly, "And don't worry, this boat has a crew."

"Oh right, courtesy of your new best friend Stefano no doubt," she said sarcastically, "So this is your ten pieces of silver is it? This is what my son's life bought!"

"It wasn't like that Sami," said Lucas tersely, "I had no choice, I just had to get you and Ali away from that bastard EJ. I wasn't going to have my daughter raised by that raping son of a bitch!"

"You know what?" said Sami angrily, "You don't get to talk about that anymore! EJ and I have worked through that night and made our peace with how Johnny was conceived. You don't get to throw it back in his face anymore, particularly with what you've just done Lucas! EJ has asked for my forgiveness and I've given it and it's over. I know you don't really understand the concept but that is how it is!"

"I know you can be a very forgiving person Sami," said Lucas, attempting to use her own words to make his point, "You have a big heart and that's how I know that this is all going to work out. I just needed to get you away from EJ and you'd be able to remember how much you love me, how good we are together."

"You…" her heated rebuttal was stilled on her lips as the boat rolled again and she gave a little groan.

"Sami?" he asked her worried, seeing her go pale.

"I'm alright," she muttered unhappily, her lips curling in distaste as she swallowed hard a couple of times, "I'm not a good sailor."

"Right," said Lucas with a half smile, trying to cajole her out of her unhappiness with a memory of better times, "I remember, that boat trip we took with your Uncle Bo around the harbour a couple of years."

"Don't," she warned him bitterly, knowing what he was trying to do and hating him for thinking she could be so easily distracted considering the circumstances.

"Sami," said Lucas urgently, putting his hands on her upper arms in an almost pleading fashion, "We can make this work, I know we can baby. We've both made mistakes I know but we've got a clean slate now, no more DiMera's in our lives…"

"You mean like my son?" asked Sami dully, "You've gotten rid of anything that reminds you of EJ and that includes Johnny?"

"It wasn't like that," said Lucas with a shake of his head, "I just knew that for us to be a family again we had to have this chance. I'm sorry that it had to come to this but you really left me with no choice Sami."

"So this is my fault?" she asked in a kind of dazed horror, her head hurting more than ever now, "I _drove_ you to this?! Is that what you're saying?!"

"I'm saying that this is our second chance Sami," he said determinedly, moving closer to her and putting his face close to hers, "If you let it be, everything can be good again between us. Please Sami, just give this a chance."

Sami looked wide eyed at him, seeing in his eyes that he was absolutely sincere. He honestly thought that after he basically sold her son off to the highest bidder and kidnapped her and Ali that she would suddenly turn around and just fall back in love with him. In the end Sami did the only thing she could considering the circumstances – her light-headedness from not eating, all the drugs they'd pumped her full of in the last day or so and Lucas' close proximity…

Sami threw up all over him.

Lucas let her go and jumped back, making a disgusted noise as the Sami caught his square in the chest, the hot vomitus dripping down his shirt and onto his sneakers. Sami put her hand over her mouth and even though she felt shaky and weak, realised that she suddenly felt much better. Like she'd told Lucas, she'd never been a good sailor and for the first time in her life she was actually glad of that fact. Lucas was making a horrified expression as he tried to shake the worst of the sticky, smelly stuff from his shirt but he wasn't getting very far so he just pulled the shirt off over his head quickly. Sami went and sat down on the bed, still feeling pretty unsteady on her feet.

"Sami," complained Lucas giving a distasteful grimace.

"I guess you've got your answer," said Sami dully, flopping back on the bed lethargically and rolling on her side, drawing her knees up under her chin, "Now leave me alone."

Lucas gave her a frustrated look but could do little now other than going and getting himself cleaned up.

"Eat something," he instructed her tersely, "You'll feel better."

"I'll feel better when I've got my son in my arms again and EJ is beating you to a bloody pulp," she said flatly, not even looking at him.

"Neither of those things is going to happen Sami," he told her harshly, walking to the door, "This is how it's going to be from now on, so just get used to it."

He slammed the door behind him and Sami winced, lifting her head to see if the sound had woken Ali but the little girl was still fast asleep. Sami gave a weak smile at the innocent sight she made before dropping it back onto the pillow despondently. Her arms ached to hold Johnny again; it was like she was missing this huge piece of her and the pain was unbearable. Hot tears slid down her face as she lay there feeling this all consuming fear for her son's safety. Even in her grief a vague memory came to her then of Rolf, leaning in close to her face, whispering things to her even as she struggled against the drugs that she'd been given.

"_Don't vorry Zamantha… I vill find a vay to contact Elvis… just do az they zay and stay alive… Elvis vill find you."_

Sami blinked, trying to remember if she'd only imagined the words but the more she thought about it the more they seemed real. If Rolf had tried to help her and managed to contact EJ and let him know where they had been held captive that meant that even know Johnny could be in his father's arms, warm and safe. Sami closed her eyes and held fiercely on to that hope.

**oooOOOOooo**

EJ moved a little in the rocking chair of the parent's room at Salem Hospital paediatric unit, settling his son more comfortably in his arms. Johnny was dozing happily and EJ just stared at him, as he'd done throughout most of the night before and ever since they'd returned from Stefano's hideout the afternoon before really. To have his son back in his arms after how close he'd come to having his own father whisk Johnny away to parts unknown forever felt like a miracle. EJ looked up as someone walked in the room.

"Hi," smiled Lexie warmly, pulling up a child size stool and sitting beside EJ as he gently rocked his son, "Been here all night huh?"

"I can't seem to bring myself to be able to put him down," said EJ softly and gave his big sister a rueful look.

"That's perfectly understandable," said Lexie very kindly, reaching out a hand and carefully stroking the top of Johnny's head, "He's just so precious."

"Yes," said EJ quietly, looking down at his son, feeling of love so intense for him that it was almost painful, "If I lost him…"

He trailed off and shook his head, unable to complete that sentence.

"Well I just stopped by to tell you've I've had a look at all of Johnny's tests that they ran last night and he's fine," said Lexie.

"You're sure?" asked EJ a little anxiously, sitting up a little in his agitation, "Lucas and my father didn't do anything to him at all?"

"No," she said, resting a calming hand on his knee and smiling up at him warmly, "You're son is perfect EJ."

"Thank you," said EJ, putting his free hand over hers, "I can see having a doctor for a big sister is going to be a very useful thing."

"And having a lawyer for a little brother probably isn't going to go astray either," she noted wryly and brother and sister shared a quiet smile at that.

Johnny stirred then, blinking his eyes open blearily, attempting to focus.

"Hello my darling," said EJ, smiling tenderly down at him, "Awake at last I see."

Johnny wrinkled his nose and promptly sneezed which made EJ frowned.

"He was sneezing a bit at the mansion when I found him," he worried, "Do you think he's coming down with something?"

"I think he was stuck in a house full of dust and dirt by what Roman told me," said Lexie comfortingly, "And the sneezing is just his body doing the right thing and getting it out of his system."

"Sorry," apologised EJ with a grimace, "I'm a little manic at the moment when it comes to him."

"It's alright EJ," she reassured him, "I understand."

Johnny was looking with great interest at his aunt and gave her a big, gummy grin when she spoke and waved his hands around at her excitedly.

"Cutey," she laughed, grabbing onto one of his chubby little hands and squeezing it playfully, "He reminds me of when Theo was his age."

Johnny gurgled something unintelligible but obviously thought it was hysterical because he promptly burst into laughter and the two adults laughed as well at his antics.

"He has your eyes," noted Lexie, "Not just the colour but the shape as well."

"Well let's hope he hasn't inherited his old man far sightedness as well," said EJ with a lop sided grin.

"I didn't know you were hyperopic," said Lexie in surprise.

"I wear contacts most of the time," confessed EJ, "And my glasses when I'm doing a lot of reading."

"I guess there are a lot of things we don't know about each other," she noted sadly.

"Thanks to our father," agreed EJ grimly.

"But it's not too late to learn," she suggested with a little smile.

"No," agreed EJ with an answering smile, "I guess not."

"I heard Roman and Abe talking about Lucas and Sami last night," she said, changing the subject, "Do you know if they have any leads on where they might be at all?"

"They're investigating some things," said EJ but he didn't sound overly confident, "But our father is clever Lexie, he won't make it easy. We found out what he had planned for Johnny, a new name, a fake passport. Another hour or so my son would have been out of the country and for all intents and purposes disappeared from the face of the earth. If Lucas has any brains at all he would have taken full advantage of Stefano's resources when it came to absconding with Samantha and Ali."

"Do you think he's taken them out of the country?" asked Lexie with a concerned frown.

"I don't know," said EJ honestly, "But I've got my own people working on it."

"Do you think that's wise EJ?" she asked uncertainly, "Roman wasn't too happy to find you and John already in the house when they got there yesterday."

"I'm not going to sit around and wait for someone else to find my family Lexie," said EJ, his face hard.

"I do understand," said Lexie, "But I'm sure Abe and Roman have it covered, besides, this little guy needs you."

"I know," said EJ quietly, looking down at Johnny before looking at Lexie with a very serious expression on his face, "Lexie, I have a big favour to ask of you."

"Of course," she said without hesitation, "Anything I can do to help, you know that EJ."

"I'm probably going to be going out of town in the next day or so," he said calmly and shook his head when he saw her open her mouth to protest, "Lexie, I have to. Samantha and Ali need me and I have to know that I've done everything in my power to find them."

Lexie gave a worried grimace but nodded, she knew that she'd feel exactly the same way if it was Abe and Theo.

"I was hoping that I could leave Johnny with you and Abe," EJ continued on, "I know it's a lot to ask but there isn't anyone else I'd feel comfortable with him being left with. Marlena is still recovering from being drugged and Caroline is out of the question given the circumstances. Our father is still out there and I don't want to put either Marlena or Caroline in any kind of danger. I know that Abe has posted men at your house to protect you and Theo as soon as we found out our father was at large."

"Yes," said Lexie grimly, "I can't imagine Stefano is too pleased with any of his children right now considering the circumstances."

"Well we did leave him in a coma to die," said EJ wryly, "He's harboured grudges for far less. Abe was right in making sure you and Theo are being protected."

"Of course we'll look after Johnny for you," said Lexie, smiling at the little boy before looking up at EJ worriedly, "But EJ, you have to be careful. Lucas is on the run and desperate, there is no telling what he might do and as for our father…"

"I know," said EJ tightly, "But I have to believe that this is all going to turn out alright Lexie. A life without Samantha and Ali in it would be unbearable. We're a family and I'll do what it takes to make sure we're together again."

"That's what worries me EJ," said Lexie very seriously, "Because I think Lucas feels exactly the same way."

"Yeah but this time I've got right on my side," said EJ and then quirked an eyebrow at her, "Come on sis - how many times has a DiMera been able to say that and it's actually been true? That's got to count for something right?"

Lexie returned his hopeful smile weakly and prayed her brother was indeed correct and that he wasn't about to make a terrible situation a whole lot worse.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter SEVENTEEN**

"Where are we?" asked Sami for what was probably the tenth time since she heard the motor of the boat stop about twenty minutes ago.

"That's not important," said Lucas, handing the last of Sami and Ali's bag to one of the crewman who was suddenly in the doorway of her little roomette.

It was the first time she'd actually seen someone other than Lucas this whole time. He'd kept both she and Ali in the room she'd woken up in the whole time. Consequently Sami had no idea what day it was; how long they'd been at sea for and even what time it was. It could have been the middle of the night for all she knew. Her body clock was all out of whack because she had been living by the artificial light in the cabin all of this time and even though she wasn't being sedated anymore Sami had accepted the sea sickness pills Lucas had offered her. They made her feel a little groggy but at least she wasn't throwing up all the time anymore.

"Hey!" said Sami sharply when Lucas picked Ali up in his arms, "Give her to me Lucas!"

"I'm going to be carrying Ali," said Lucas, keeping his tone light so as not to frighten his daughter even while sending a warning look towards Sami, "We're going ashore now and I want you to behave yourself Sami. Don't do anything stupid."

"Or what?" she asked harshly, "You'll hurt your own daughter?"

"I want us to be a family Sami," said Lucas, his dark eyes hard and unyielding, "But if it comes down to it, Ali only needs one parent and if I want I can just take her and disappear and you'll never see her again."

"You wouldn't!" she hissed painfully.

"I don't want to Sami," he told her determinedly, "Just don't force my hand more than you already have alright? We're going to go up on deck and then it's just a short walk to where there will be a car waiting for us."

Sami shook her head and gave a desperate look at Ali, reaching out and stroking her hair. She met Lucas' gaze over the top of the little girl's blonde hair and knew she didn't have a choice.

"Fine," she said shortly, "Can we just get out of here already?"

"Of course," said Lucas easily before jiggling Ali around in his arms, "Are you ready sweetie? Mommy and Daddy and Ali are going on a big adventure together – isn't that exciting."

Ali frowned; picking up on her mother's tension but Lucas wasn't put off.

"We are going to have so much fun the three of us," he told her.

Ali didn't' look convinced and gave a little pout, looking over at Sami uncertainly.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Lucas, "Do you think she's coming down with something? She just doesn't seem her usual happy self."

"Of course she's unhappy," said Sami, feeling the frustrated tears sting her eyes, "You've had us both cooped up in this tiny cabin for I don't know how long now. She misses her brother – they've never been apart before this."

Sami gave him a defiant look then.

"And she misses EJ," she said flatly, "She misses her Daddy."

"I'm Ali's father," said Lucas bitterly, "Not EJ DiMera."

"He's the only father she knows and she loves him," said Sami, feeling a tear spill over and run down her cheek as she remembered how EJ was with Ali, "EJ has always loved her like his own child, right from the very first moment. They adore each other."

"She's only a baby," said Lucas, her words painful to hear which he guessed was her intent, "A couple more weeks and she won't even remember him. I'll be the one who is around, the one who loves her and takes care of her."

"I won't let her forget him," she said stonily, "Just like I'll never stop loving EJ. This crazy plan you have – it's not going to work Lucas, it's just not."

Sami grabbed his arm then and looked at him pleadingly.

"Look, you can just let us both go," she said earnestly, "It doesn't matter where we are, I'll find my own way back home. Please Lucas, think about what you're doing. This is kidnapping and you've broken your parole and who knows what else you've done… you need to stop this madness. If you let us go I wouldn't tell anyone where you were going, I'd give you time to get away, stall the police – you know I'm good at that kind of thing. You have to do the right thing Lucas."

"I _am_ doing the right thing!" he said sharply, "What I should have done the moment I realised that snake EJ was trying to have you for his own. I'm protecting you, taking you away from all of his evil plotting and scheming. That man has ruined your life but he's got you blinded to it somehow. He's deluded you into thinking your in love with him. You'll see Sami, a little time away and you'll be able to see everything so much more clearly. That's what happened to me, in prison. I was able to think and I when I was released I knew what I had to do."

"And this was what you had to do," she asked dully, she waved her arm around, "This!"

"We need to get going," said Lucas, not willing to argue the point with her anymore, "Let's go and don't forget what I told you Sami. No funny business because if you do anything to try and attract attention to us then Ali and I are gone, do you hear me?"

"Yes," she said sullenly, "I hear you Lucas. You've already taken one of my babies and now you're threatening to take another. It's hard to imagine how I could ever think that I wasn't in love with you."

"Come on," he said, ignoring her sarcasm and hoisting Ali up higher in his arms and giving her an excited grin, "Let's go topside sweetie!"

Lucas indicated that Sami should go first which she grudgingly did, walking out of her cabin into a narrow walkway.

"Left," Lucas instructed her from behind.

Sami dutifully walked along the little space until she came to a few steps that led up to a door and obviously out onto the deck. She climbed the little stairs and pushed open the door, wincing painfully in the brilliant light, her eyes not having seen daylight for what must be days now.

"Protect Ali's eyes," she called back over her shoulder to Lucas as she kept going, squinting in the glare and trying to get her eyes to adjust to the brightness.

Lucas followed behind her, placing a hand over Ali's eyes and letting her sensitive eyes take their time to adjust but she still was blinking rapidly, her eyes watering.

"Give her to me," said Sami anxiously as Ali began to grizzle a little at the irritation.

"She's fine Sami," said Lucas, waving away the arms she'd extended to take Ali from him, "Just remember what I said and everything is going to be alright."

A crewman appeared at Sami's side and took her elbow and she jerked her arm away from his grip, looking at him angrily.

"Don't touch me!" she warned him.

"He was just going to help you out of the boat," said Lucas with a sigh, "You're probably going to be a bit unsteady on your feet after having been at sea all this time. It may take a moment to get your land legs."

Sami stubbornly refused the man's help and with a defiant glare made her way down the gang plank. Unfortunately though it turned out Lucas was right because as soon as she stepped down onto the dock and attempted to walk so seemed to lose her balance and collapsed on the ground.

"Sami!" said Lucas in concern, hurrying down the same gang plank and reaching down to help her, Ali still on his hip, "Here."

"Leave me alone!" she snapped, flinching away from his touch, "I'm fine!"

But she wasn't.

Sami's head was spinning and her legs were shaking, the seemingly simple task of standing back on her feet beyond her at the moment. Between all the drugs that her system had been forced to deal with over the last however many days, not being able to keep much down and the fact that she hadn't been sleeping well Sami felt decidedly unwell and disorientated all of a sudden. Lucas ignored her protests and took her arm, helping her to her feet. She swayed unsteadily but remained upright.

"It's not far to the car," Lucas told her, his voice in her ear as he started to move her along the marina walkway.

Sami tried to focus on the things around her, hoping to see something that might give her a clue where they were, something that she might be able to tell people if she managed to get to a phone and call for help. She realised that it must have been still early in the morning, the sun just starting to make its way across the morning sky. Her eyes still stung from the brightness and she blinked rapidly, trying to clear her suddenly watery vision. There weren't many people around them, probably due to the early hour, just a few people on the various boats that were littered around. The marina seemed to be of a reasonable size, with many boats docked along its length. Lucas was moving at a reasonable pace and she was struggling to keep up with him and not trip on the sometimes uneven ground. Her heart was pounding, as much from the sudden exercise after her recent enforced inertia as her anxiousness. It made her head spin even more.

Sami tried to valiantly focus on some street names as Lucas basically marched her and Ali along the street now, leaving the marina behind them. Decatur and Bienville – Sami struggled to remember the names on the sign posts, hoping it might help her if she could somehow get a message to someone with this kind of information in it. They were still moving quickly and Sami struggled to get her eyes to focus properly and her senses to co-operate. Old fashion buildings lined the streets now and there was a decidedly European feel to the whole area. They passed what looked like a large park on their right but Sami couldn't be sure. Iberville street next. The continuing French sounding names of the streets were starting to make Sami worried.

Had Lucas managed to smuggle her and Ali out of the country even?

If he had Stefano's resources at his disposal than anything was possible. She felt a stab of fear at the thought. It was entirely possible because Sami still had no idea how long it had been since she and her children had been taken. Exactly how long would it take to sail to somewhere like Lyon or some other French province? Sami was clueless but the thought that she and Ali were in a foreign country now made her feel particularly vulnerable and alone.

"Here," said Lucas as they turned down a final street and came to a large four wheel drive with heavily tinted windows at the end of it.

"Where are we?" she asked him yet again, "Where are we going now Lucas?"

"Just get in the car Sami," said Lucas calmly, "You'll see, you'll love it."

"Ali and I aren't going anywhere in that thing if it doesn't have a baby seat," she announced sharply, looking around them now and trying to find something obvious to remember about the place.

All she could see was the top of a church steeple over the top of whatever hotel they seemed to be at the back of, not particularly helpful. Lucas opened the car door and gave a challenging nod at the baby seat already installed in the back seat.

"I'm a good father," he told Sami quietly, "I know how to take care of my daughter."

Sami didn't even bother to answer but held out her arms for Ali but he shook his head, strapping her in himself. While she waited Sami saw that their bags were already in the back and she grimaced. Who knew Lucas could be this organised - she'd certainly never seen it when they were together.

"Why don't you hop in the back," offered Lucas, "With Ali."

Sami was glad to have the option – not particularly interested in sitting next to him up the front. She went round to the other side of the car and it got in, doing up her seat belt. The window glass was so heavily tinted that she could barely make out anything on the other side. The car dipped as Lucas got into the drivers seat and did up his own seat belt.

"Here we go," he announced cheerfully, holding her gaze in the rear vision mirror, "The beginning of our new life together as a proper family."

Sami just glared back at him, not even bothering to dignify that with a response but Lucas didn't seem to need one, starting the car and beginning to drive down the narrow street to somewhere Sami still had no idea about. She closed her eyes and prayed that no matter where in the world they were now that EJ would find them. She knew her husband, no matter what he'd never stop looking for her and Ali and she thanked God for that stubborn streak of his that had driven her mad for so long.

**oooOOOOooo**

Later that same day EJ sat with Johnny on a rug on the floor of the DiMera mansion living room, watching him attempt to crawl. He was getting very close to it and EJ wondered with a pang if Ali was already crawling herself. It had been five days since the kidnapping and that was a long time in the life of a nine month old, a lot could happen. He hated the thought that he might miss out on seeing her first attempts at such an important milestone and knew Samantha was probably feeling the same way about Johnny right now. He hoped that she knew that Johnny was safely back home with him but rather doubted that if Lucas was privy to that information that he'd feel the need to share it with Sami. The thought that Lucas had basically sold Johnny to Stefano just so he could get what he wanted made EJ just want to tear him apart with his bare hands and he unconsciously made a fist at the urge.

He was torn from his murderous thoughts when Johnny became a little overconfident and promptly did a face plant into the rug with his ongoing attempts at crawling. He made an unhappy noise, more with frustration than actually being hurt. EJ scooped him up in his arms and Johnny decided that he wasn't going to cry after all. EJ kissed the top of his head and breathed in that lovely baby smell of his and smiled down at him.

"You know my boy," said EJ, looking very serious as he settled him more comfortably on his lap, "I was thinking, when Mummy and Ali are home again I'm going to put all three of you into a giant bubble so that no one can ever hurt you again."

Johnny made a noise as though he was really interested in his father's musings so EJ continued on.

"Obviously it will take a little getting used to," he pondered, "And as you get older maybe you and your sister will have to have separate bubbles… I haven't really worked out all the finer details but the important thing is that you three will all be safe. Now, I realise that this might be a bit of a controversial solution to the situation but I think I can convince your mother to go along with it."

EJ seemed to be thinking about that for a minute.

"Of course getting your _mother_ into her bubble is going to take some manoeuvring on my part," he mused ruefully, "But I'm nothing if not persistent when I want something."

"That would be quite the show," mused John as he walked into the room, hands in his pocket, "I think I'd even pay to see that."

"Uncle John," said EJ ruefully and gave a lopsided smile at being overheard, "How's Marlena?"

"She's sleeping now," said John, walking over to pour himself a drink of Scotch.

"That was a bad reaction she had to the drug that father had put in our wine," said EJ with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, Blondie didn't take too well to it that's for sure," said John dourly, "I must remember to thank my brother for his kind gift."

"First things first," said EJ, handing a toy to Johnny, "We need to find Samantha and Ali. Are you all packed, our flight leaves at three."

"Just about," said John calmly.

John narrowed his eyes then as Rolf walked into the room rather stiffly as it turned out he had indeed broken two ribs during the fracas at the old house. John eyed him suspiciously.

"I told you John," said Rolf in exasperation when he saw how the other man was looking at him, "I vas an innocent victim in Stefano's plot - I had nozing at all to do viz it."

"So you keep saying," said John obviously unconvinced.

"Look," said Rolf, pointing to his black eye and holding onto his ribs as he did, "I vas hurt trying to help you and Elvis - I vas being heroic."

"You were being crushed by a 400 pound guy," snorted John disdainfully, "That wasn't heroics, that was just gravity."

"Leave Rolf alone Uncle John," said EJ, still playing with his son, "If it wasn't for him then I might not have gotten to Johnny in time."

"Hm," grunted John, not quite willing to let it go, "You…"

He jabbed his finger at Rolf.

"… strike one," he cautioned him.

"Vat?" asked Rolf, unfamiliar with the expression.

"It's a baseball term Rolf," EJ explained patiently, "When a batter fails to hit the ball pitched at him it's called a strike - three strikes and you're out."

"But vhy do you call it a 'strike' ven za batter does not hit za ball?" asked Rolf in confusion, "Shouldn't zat be called a mizz instead - zere vas no striking of za ball ya?"

"Don't you start," said EJ with a roll of his eyes.

_Honestly, he got enough of this kind of thing from John._

"Lumpy here makes a good point," said John, momentarily forgetting his threat making.

They both looked at EJ expectantly and he sighed.

"Don't know," he said stoically, "Ask me a soccer question instead."

"Why is there so much kissing and touching of other men's butts in soccer?" asked John, not missing a beat.

The sound of the front door bell sounded then and EJ blew out a relieved sigh.

"Saved by the bell eh?" he said to Johnny who happily returned his father's nodding, "I'll get it."

EJ stood up, picking up Johnny with him and walked to the door and smiled at the woman on the other side.

"Hi Lexie," he said, bending down to give her a kiss on the cheek and Johnny joined in too, planting a wet slippery kiss on his aunt as well.

"Wow," laughed Lexie, wiping the baby drool from her cheek, "That was quite a greeting - hello sweet boy."

Johnny bounced up and down excitedly in EJ's arms when his aunt spoke to him and gave a little peal of laughter.

"He's in a good mood," noted Lexie as EJ stepped back and let her come in.

"He's surprisingly good in the afternoons," agreed EJ, closing the door, "It's Ali who gets the mid afternoon terrors. Samantha calls it the drama queen hours - we're everything just sets her off until she has her nap."

At the mention of his wife and daughter EJ felt the now familiar stab of grief and loss but put a determinedly brave face on but Lexie saw through it immediately.

"How are you?" she asked softly, putting a comforting hand on his arm.

"Let's see," sighed EJ, "Devastated, hopeful, furious, terrified, determined, grateful…"

EJ kissed the top of Johnny's head and smiled down at his son so thankful that he had him at least and that he was safe.

"Pretty much all of those things at any given moment," he told her ruefully.

"Then do you really think that this is a good idea?" she asked him worriedly, "I don't think you're in any fit state to be racing off right now. Why don't you let Abe and Roman handle it from here?"

"They have their line of enquiry to follow and I have mine," said EJ simply, "I've spoken to Roman and he doesn't seem to think my information is worth following up so I'm going to do it myself."

"But I thought they found all of this information at the house were Johnny was being held that pretty much pointed to Lucas having taken Sami and Ali to Mexico?" she said, "It was pretty conclusive from what Abe was saying."

"And you don't find that strange that our father would be so careless with information like that?" asked EJ flatly, "I think he fully intended for that information to be found so that anyone looking for Samantha and Ali would be led down the proverbial. I'm not even sure the information on where he was planning to take Johnny was kosher."

"You might be right," sighed Lexie, "Nothing is ever as it seems when it comes to Stefano DiMera."

"Quite," said EJ bitingly, "But I've got a good man on this for me and I think his leads are worth checking out."

"Well I still don't think it's a good idea," fretted Lexie but then gave a warm smile for Johnny's benefit, "But I can't say that I won't enjoy having this little fellow around the house for a few days."

"Hopefully it won't even be that long," said EJ determinedly, "John and I are leaving for the airport in another hour or so."

"John's going with you?" she said in surprise and lowered her voice a little in case the other man should over hear, "Is that a good idea?"

"I have no idea," admitted EJ freely with a little grimace, "I'll tell you when it's all over."

"Well I suppose we'd better get Johnny's stuff loaded into the car," said Lexie, seeing that there was no changing her brothers mind, not that she thought she would be able to but she had to at least try.

"It's just there," nodded EJ to a little bag and a couple of other pieces of baby paraphernalia in the corner, "I'll get it."

"You say goodbye to your son EJ," she stalled him, "I'll load the car."

EJ went to protest but she forestalled him with a look, telling him not to argue with her. It only took her a moment to pick up all of the things and walk out to her car. EJ turned Johnny around so that he was facing him, looking into the chocolate coloured eyes that were so like his own.

"This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do Johnny," he said softly, "It's killing me to leave you but I just have to. You're mummy and sister need me to go and bring them home and I'm going to do just that. Very, very soon we're all going to be together again, I promise you Johnny."

EJ held his son close to his heart, squeezing him almost too tightly too him, feeling a painful lump in his throat. The way he loved Johnny and Ali, no one could have told him what it would be like. When he'd first seen those little babies and held them in his arms everything had changed for him, just like Samantha had told him it would. Leaving Johnny now, it felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest and the pain was unbearable but he knew he had to do this so they could all be together again.

"I love you," he whispered into the top of Johnny's dark hair, "Daddy loves you more than anything else in the world little one, always remember that."

"Ready?" asked Lexie softly, reappearing again by his side and EJ gave a bit of a grimace.

"Not really," said EJ, pressing a last kiss to Johnny's cheek before handing over his son to Lexie, "But I guess I have to be."

"I've taken this next week off work," she reassured him, "Johnny's going to have a great time with Theo - he'll be able to do some bonding with his cousin - he'll love it."

"I know," said EJ, watching his son as he stared fixated at one of Lexie's earrings and reached out a hand to stroke his head, "Thank you for doing this Lexie. There are no words for how much it means to me."

"Of course," said Lexie with genuine affection, "We're family EJ, this is what family does for one another. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I will be," said EJ determinedly, "And I'm going to be back to pick up Johnny very soon and his mother and sister will be with me when I do."

"Nephew," said John suddenly appearing in the doorway and giving a nod to Lexie, "Hey."

"Yes?" asked EJ.

"I'm packing," announced John, "Remind me - guns being taken on as hand luggage in a commercial flight - are they still weird about that kind of stuff or is everyone over it?"

"I think it's safe to assume that people are still 'weird' about that kind of stuff," said EJ stoically, "No guns."

"What about knives?" he asked.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here Uncle and suggest that anything that could kill a person is going to be pretty much be frowned upon by airport security," said EJ in mild exasperation.

"Hm," mused John almost to himself, "That could be a problem because I'm pretty sure I could kill a person with a straw if I had too."

He gave a shrug then.

"Don't worry about it," said John expressionlessly, "I'll sort it out myself. Lexie."

He gave another brief nod at her and then disappeared up the stairs.

"EJ," said Lexie anxiously, "Are you _certain_ that taking John with you is a good idea?"

"Well obviously I'm a little _less_ certain after that conversation," he said dryly, "But I'm sure it will be fine."

"EJ…" said Lexie, cringing nervously.

"I'll call you when we land," he told her reassuringly, "…or from airport security if John gets us arrested - whichever one comes first."

He walked with them out to Lexie's car and with a final kiss for his son EJ waved them off. EJ turned back round slowly and walked back into the house, looking up at the stairs John had just headed up.

Maybe he should go and supervise his Uncle's packing, make sure he was trying to fit a bazooka in his overnight bag or something else that might present a bit of a 'red flag' to the airport security. EJ climbed the stairs and prayed that this wasn't shades of things to come but to be perfectly honest, his hopes weren't high. John met him in the hallway and held up curling wand and looked at him enquiringly.

"Why would you want to take that?" asked EJ in consternation.

"To distract peoples attention away from this," said John, holding up a smoke bomb that EJ had no idea where he'd gotten it from.

"No," said EJ stoically, turning round and walking towards his room.

"To which one?" John called out behind him.

"Both," said EJ flatly not bothering to turn round.

"Well this trip is turning out to be way less fun then I thought it was going to be," grumbled John under his breath, "Next thing he'll tell me I can't take my mace."

"No mace!" yelled out EJ from his room to which John scowled unhappily and went back to his room to do some unpacking.

EJ slumped against his and Sami's bedroom door and shook his head despondently.

"Hang on Samantha," he whispered out into the universe and prayed that she could somehow hear him, "I'm coming sweetheart, hell or high water, lunatic uncle or not, I'm coming for my girls."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter EIGHTEEN**

Sami looked out at of the bay window at the surrounding wetlands and frowned. The house Lucas had driven to them was very secluded, it had been hard to see out the tinted windows of the car but she'd stopped seeing other houses by the road at least forty minutes before they'd arrived at their destination. They'd driven for a good two hours to get here as well so where ever they were they were well off the beaten track now.

The house was well furnished and very comfortable and it reminded her somewhat of the cabin that had served as a safe house for her, EJ and the twins. Sami bit her lip at the thought of her husband, her hand unconsciously going to her now bare ring finger. It felt strange not to have her wedding rings there and felt bereft at their absence. Sami hoped that EJ had found them and that Lucas hadn't thrown them in the ocean or something horrible like that. It wasn't just the fact that EJ had given them and particularly the wedding ring to her but it was also the fact that it was the ring Santo had gotten made for Colleen. She hated the thought of that being lost forever, it was almost like two couples being robbed of it somehow.

"So?" asked Lucas happily, as he walked back into the room with Ali in his arms and sat down on the sofa, "Have you worked out where we are yet?"

Sami frowned at him, finding his chirpiness in the face of her abject misery particularly galling.

"Should I?" she snapped.

"Thought you might recognise the area," shrugged Lucas, not put off by her shortness.

Sami's frown deepened and she looked out side the window again. The house was set back a little from a river's edge, a small dock just out the front linking the land with the water. Behind the house was a heavily wooded area and a single dirt track led up to the house. Lucas had been letting her walk around freely, obviously pretty confident that she wasn't going to be able to go anywhere in a hurry.

"Why would I recognise the area?" she asked perplexed, still feeling pretty muddled about their trip from the boat to the car.

"Because this is where we had our honeymoon," smiled Lucas and then looked at Ali, bouncing her up and down on his knee, "And you were there too sweetie, in your mommy's tummy."

Ali wrinkled her nose and just looked at him kind of strangely.

"We're in New Orleans?" she asked, sounding shocked.

"Yeah," grinned Lucas and then gave her a quizzical look, "Where did you think we were?"

Sami grimaced and suddenly felt embarrassed for thinking that they might have been in France and said nothing.

"We had some happy memories here," said Lucas softly, "I thought that this would be a perfect place for us to reconnect."

"You really think that is going to happen don't you?" asked Sami in amazement, "That I'm going to just get over what you did to my son?"

"I forgave you for lying to the authorities and saying that I hit Will," said Lucas evenly, "You tried to take my son away from me but we worked through it."

"So what is this?" she asked in horror, "Payback?"

"Of course not," he frowned, "That is not what this is about at all. I love you Sami."

"Well let's hope you never hate me," said Sami bitterly, "Because if this is you loving me then I probably won't survive you hating me."

"I'm going to give Ali something to eat," said Lucas, stoically ignoring her dig, "Do you want anything?"

"You know what I want Lucas," she said tightly, "Freedom for me and my daughter."

"You're free to move around as you please Sami," he told her, standing up with Ali, "This is going to be our home for awhile, I want you to be comfortable here."

"Great," said Sami with feigned happiness, holding out her hand, "Can I have the car keys please, I was just going to pop into town with Ali but don't worry, we'll be right back."

"Cute Sami," said Lucas wryly, walking out of the room with Ali in his arms.

Sami blew out a frustrated breath and shook her head. This wasn't over, there had to be a way out of this. Now that she knew she was still in the US it made everything that much simpler and she began to think about how she could get herself and her daughter out of there.

And if there was one thing Samantha Jean DiMera knew how to do it was scheme.

**oooOOOOooo**

EJ squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, trying to find more room for his long legs in the confined space of the economy section of the flight he and John were currently seated in with limited success. His knees bumped into the chair in front of him and the woman turned around and gave him an unimpressed look.

"Sorry," he apologised hastily and tried to sit up straighter in his seat.

This made his left shoulder bump against John's right one.

"You're touching me," John informed him flatly, "I don't like to be touched."

"Well I'm sorry Uncle but neither one of us are exactly small men and there is only so much space to go round," EJ grimaced.

"This wouldn't be a problem if you'd let me take my private jet like I said in the first place," complained John.

"We are trying to be inconspicuous Uncle," said EJ, defending his plan whilst he tried to find more space for himself, "We don't know if my father has people watching the private air strips for your jet. I want the element of surprise on our side when we do find Samantha and Ali."

EJ moved bumping the woman's chair yet again. This time she turned around and glared and he gave an apologetic shrug, not knowing what else he could do. Truth be told if he'd realised that the space was this small on commercial flights then he might have considered John's suggestion more carefully. This was the first time EJ had ever flown coach in his life and he was finding it a not particularly pleasant experience, especially with legs as long as his.

The chair in front of John suddenly dropped down to the reclining position, practically putting it in his lap. A freckled child of about eight or so gave him an upside down smirk as he looked up at John. John leant forward slowly and made a very low growling noise from down deep in his throat, his face expressionless but still somehow managing to be very menacing. The child gave a frightened start and quickly put his seat back into the upright position. Now it was John's turn to give a little self satisfied smirk.

"Can I get either of you gentleman anything?"

Both John and EJ looked up at the fresh faced young flight attendant who was suddenly on their right. She had a food trolley with various drinks and snacks on it.

"Do you have any Scotch?" asked John.

"Of course sir," she smiled, "How do you take it?"

"Neat," replied John, "With ice and some nuts if you've got them."

"Certainly," she said, handing him the little packet of nuts whilst pouring him his drink and looking at EJ expectantly.

"Nothing for me thanks," he said politely.

"Is this your first visit to New Orleans?" she asked pleasantly as she added ice to John's drink.

John considered the question for a moment and then shrugged.

"It's possible," he told her expressionlessly.

She looked a bit confused by his answer, looking uncertainly at EJ.

"I spent a portion of my childhood there," said EJ smoothly, trying to distract her from his uncle's odd reply, "I was there about a year ago now and I'm looking forward to going back."

"Well be sure and enjoy your stay then gentlemen," she said, returning his smile and handing John his drink, "It you need anything please just press the button."

"Thank you," said EJ and gave her a friendly nod as she moved the trolley on to the next row.

John held up the tiny packet of peanuts and tilted his head to one side, looking at it askew.

"I don't know why airplane peanut packets are that small Uncle," said EJ, pre-empting his next question, "They just are."

John seemed to consider this for a moment and then just accept it, turning over the pack to open them.

"What?" asked EJ when he saw him hesitate, "What's wrong now?"

"This packet of nuts," said John, narrowing his eyes at it thoughtfully.

"Yes?" prompted EJ in frustration, his temper not being the best nowadays.

"It says on the back here - Warning: There may be traces of nuts in this product," read out John, he looked at EJ then rather blankly, "Is there some question as to whether there is going to be actual nuts in my packet of nuts?"

"Of course not," said EJ, "They just put it there as a warning to people with nut allergies - it's a life threatening allergy."

"Remind me nephew," said John stoically, "If people with nut allergies eat a packet of nuts just because there is no warning on the packet to tell them that a nut may have traces of nuts in it… why exactly are we bothering to save these people?"

"Just eat your nuts Uncle John," said EJ flatly.

Just over two hours later John and EJ were in a taxi, heading towards the French Quarter of New Orleans. Unbelievably John hadn't managed to get them arrested during the rest of the flight or at the terminal when they landed so things were going better than EJ had expected already. He'd also made the decision that when they did find Samantha and Ali they were definitely going to be going back on John's private jet. The taxi pulled up at the destination EJ had given him and he and John got out, standing with their bags in front of the hotel EJ had chosen.

"Well this is just charming," said John, looking at the rundown exterior of the old building, "You do know how to travel in style nephew."

"Again Uncle," said EJ, ignoring his sarcasm, "Going for inconspicuous. The Gilded Lily is on the outskirts of the French Quarter - if my father or Lucas have people on the look out for us then we will be able to keep a lower profile here."

John looked unconvinced and became even less so as they went inside.

"And I thought the plane trip was bad," he muttered, looking around at the peeling wall paper and generally dinghy appearance of the place.

Tourists generally didn't bother to come quite this far out of the French Quarter and it looked like a place that attracted a very certain type of clientele - one that booked rooms more by the hour than by the night. There was a strange funk in the air that EJ tried not to dwell on too closely as to what that might be as he and John walked over to the scratched counter of the reception area. A middle aged man with few grooming skills stood behind it giving them a disinterested look. His clothes were ill fitting and were possibly the reason for the strange smell noted EJ as he drew closer.

"Good afternoon," he said politely to the man, "I was wondering if you had any vacancies for my Uncle and I."

The man looked back and forth between the other two men and absently scratched the greying stubble on his chin.

"You two together?" he said, his voice rough from what EJ assumed was years of smoking if his yellow finger tips were anything to go by.

"No."

"Yes."

EJ and John looked at each other and EJ shook his head at his Uncle.

"We're not together," he said determinedly, looking back at the man, knowing what he was implying.

"Yes we are," John contradicted him blithely.

"_No_," said EJ calmly, "We _aren__'__t_."

"_Yes_," said John, mimicking his inflections, "We _are_."

EJ gave a little grimace.

"Excuse us for one moment please," he said of the man and was given a bored shrug for his trouble.

EJ pulled John to one side.

"Uncle John," he said, his voice low, "The man is asking if we're 'together'."

"We are together," said John bluntly, looking at him in confusion, "What's the problem here nephew?"

"The problem is he thinks we're '_together_ together'," explained EJ with an expressive hand gesture.

"I don't know if you realise this Elvis," said John blankly, "But you just keep saying the same word in different ways - it still means the same thing."

"I tell you what," said EJ with forced patience as he gave up trying to explain this particular little nuance to his Uncle, "Just let me do the talking from here on in eh?"

"Whatever," shrugged John.

EJ and John turned back to the man who was now rather disconcertingly picking something out of his ear with a pen and smiled at him.

"We'll have two rooms please," he told the man.

"With adjoining doors," finished John happily and EJ shook his head.

"Is it the accent?" he asked John, throwing his hands up in frustration, "Is _that_ what's throwing you when I said leave the talking to me?"

"It is kind of pronounced," agreed John, "But I just thought it would be more convenient - you know, for us, if we had adjoining rooms."

"Look I ain't got all day," interrupted the man, "What's it going to be ladies?"

"Two rooms," said EJ and held up a hand to silence John as he went to interject, "They don't have to adjoin - just whatever you have will be fine."

"Right," said the man, pushing a book at EJ for sign in and grabbing two keys while he did.

"This way," he grunted, walking up the stairs and not even bothering to check if they were following him.

John and EJ followed him up the stairs and he stopped halfway down the hall.

"103 and 104," he announced with a kind of sarcastic flourish, dropping the keys in EJ's hand, "They're adjoining - far be it from me to stand in the way of young love."

With that he walked off and left them to it.

"What did that mean?" asked John in confusion.

"It meant that you should have let me do the talking Uncle," said EJ dryly, handing him a key, "We've got about half an hour until we're to meet up with Mr Newman so he can update us. I'll meet you downstairs in ten minutes - is that alright?"

"Just peachy," said John, taking the offered key and disappearing into his _adjoining_ room.

"Well the keeping a low profile plan is off to a bit of a bumpy start," muttered EJ under his breath with a roll of his eyes before retiring to his own room.

Things could only improve… right?


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter NINETEEN**

They caught another cab into the centre of the French Quarter and walking the last couple of blocks to where they were meeting Mr Newman. The sounds of music drifted over to them from the various bars and cafés and people were everywhere, a lot of tourists but clearly there were also a lot of locals as well. There was colour and movement everywhere but none of it held EJ's attention at all except for the fact that he found himself scanning the crowds for a distinctive blonde head. He knew the chances of Lucas letting Sami out in a place like this was so slim as to be non-existent, if they were even in New Orleans at all but he couldn't help himself.

The Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop bar on the corner of Bourbon and St Phillip streets was one of the oldest bars in the French Quarter and although very popular EJ had chosen it for the fact that the establishment had no electricity which meant the lighting was only from candles and lamps. It leant a 'ye olde worlde' ambiance to the place that tourists loved but EJ was more interested in the fact that the low light went a long way towards not advertising their presence. He knew he rather stood out in a crowd, all someone had to do was ask about someone tall and accented and people would know who they were talking about and John… well, John was John. He tended to make an impression where ever he went.

Mr Newman was already waiting for him and stood up from the table he'd secured for them as they entered. EJ had only met Bill Newman once before in person when he'd procured his services to keep tabs on Lucas initially, all of the rest of their correspondence had been done over the phone. Bill Newman was a man in his early fifties with a full head of rather distinguished looking greying hair. He was tanned and fit looking, someone who obviously kept himself in shape with a sharp blue gaze that seemed to see a lot more than he often let on. He extended his hand to EJ as they greeted one another and EJ then introduced his Uncle. The formalities over they all sat down.

"I'm so sorry for your trouble Mr DiMera," said Mr Newman after they'd given their drink order to the young woman who had come to serve them, "This should never have happened."

It was a point of professional pride for Bill Newman that he was always meticulously thorough in investigating the people he'd been hired to do so. When this young man's wife and children had suddenly been kidnapped and by the very man that he'd been employed to keep an eye on he had been horrified both on a personal and professional level. It was always awful when children became involved in these kind of cases and he'd seen his fair share after 23 years with the FBI and it was clear that it was taking it's toll on the man sitting across from him. The young man looked tired and obviously worried but there was also a steely determination to his gaze that told Bill this man meant business. It had also been a hard thing to deal with professionally as Bill felt that this had basically happened on his watch and that was completely unacceptable.

"My father helped Lucas hide the truth behind his intent for my wife and children in a way that you couldn't have foreseen," said EJ grimly, "If any of us had any idea that Stefano was involved with Lucas then we all would have been looking a far more closely at all of Lucas' dealings. You acted in good faith with the information you were supplied with at the time. I'm not interested in attaching blame here to anyone other than the man that took my family and all I care about is getting them back."

"Of course," nodded Mr Newman, appreciating his candour, "And to that end I think I might have some further information for you."

EJ sat a little straighter in his seat before leaning forward a little more, intensely interested in whatever new information there might be.

"As you know I did some digging around in your father's affairs after the kidnapping and found that one of his boats, The Sea Dog was due to arrive in Puerto Rico to pick up some business acquaintances of Stefano's. Apparently he'd given them free use of it before the coma and they've been using it ever since."

"So why aren't we in Puerto Rico then?" asked John flatly, not having heard this story yet, "They serve you drinks with little umbrellas in them there."

"Well," said Mr Newman, arching an eyebrow at the other man but continuing on smoothly, "The thing was that it was two days late in making port there. The crew said they had some engine problems and pulled into port here at New Orleans but the thing is that was a long way out of their way and when they got here they didn't stay very long so whatever the problem was seemed to work itself out pretty quickly."

"Or it just got off and walked away," suggested John, taking a sip of the drink that the waitress had just returned with.

"Exactly," agreed Mr Newman, "So I've been down at the docks all this morning trying to find someone who might have been around when the Sea Dog pulled in."

"And you found someone?" prompted EJ, his own drink forgotten.

"Maybe," he said, "One of local fishermen said they'd thought they'd seen it dock. It was early yesterday morning, not many people were around and he didn't noticed the name of the boat."

"It's a very busy port," said EJ with a frown, "What makes him think it might have been the boat we were looking for if he didn't notice the name?"

"It wasn't the boat he remembered it's was the occupants," said Mr Newman, "Apparently a woman got off the boat followed by a man carrying a small child."

"Ali," said EJ painfully, "It had to be them, did you show him the picture of Samantha and Ali? Did he recognise them?"

"The guy was a fair ways a way and couldn't be sure," confessed Mr Newman, "But you're wife's hair is very blonde and quite eye catching, even from a distance. He noticed them because of that and…"

He hesitated then and EJ felt his nerves tighten.

"What?" he frowned anxiously.

"Apparently there was a little bit of a commotion of sorts," said Mr Newman, knowing this was not something that his employer was going to enjoy hearing, "My witness said he saw the woman fall or collapse or something."

EJ sat back in his seat as though the other man had hit him and closed his eyes, fighting to stay in control. He had been determinedly not letting himself of Samantha being hurt in anyway because he doubted if he could have functioned if he did. This news made him alternatively want to scream out loud and hit something or preferably a certain someone very, very hard.

"The man helped her up and they moved away pretty quickly," continued on Mr Newman, "At least we know that she could still walk, there could be a lot of reasons as to why she fell, I don't think we can automatically assume that Mrs DiMera, if that was her, is necessarily hurt in anyway. She could have just tripped."

EJ opened his eyes and grimaced, knowing the other man was only trying to help by making him feel better but the only thing that was going to do that was to have Samantha and Ali safe and sound in his arms again.

They continued to talk after that, Mr Newman telling them he had a few more leads as to where they might have gone after that including chasing up some car rental places because it was pretty likely that where ever Lucas took them next it would have been by car. They made arrangements to meet the next day before lunch before Mr Newman excused himself and left. EJ and John stayed on a bit before grabbing something to eat at one of the local restaurants. They were back at the hotel before eight and EJ had barely spoken two words the whole time, lost in his own dark thoughts. Excusing himself for the night EJ went into his room and leaned back heavily on the door, feeling as though all of his energy had been sapped from his body.

He pushed away from the door, pulling at his tie and undoing it before slumping down on the little sofa which had his opened suitcase in front of it. He distractedly began to roll it up neatly as was his habit, the action causing the gold rings on his fingers to flash. EJ dropped the tie into his suitcase, forgotten now as he looked at the delicate gold band on his little finger that was a perfect match for the larger on his ring finger. He twisted the metal band between his fingers, feeling it's smooth surface sliding over his skin.

His grandfather had had the ring made for Colleen, a woman he loved more than life itself, a woman he had ultimately lost. EJ felt this dread that he was doomed to walk in his grandfather's footsteps and the thought that he might lose Samantha forever was nearly paralysing him. He felt like he'd failed her, failed her and Ali utterly because he hadn't been able to protect them from all this. EJ hung his head dejectedly, covering his face with a hand and tried to pull himself together.

"Cards?"

EJ heard his uncle ask the question but didn't bother to look up. John had opened the door between their rooms to see his nephew painting a picture of hopeless defeat and decided something needed to be done.

"I'm not really in the mood Uncle John," he said hollowly, still not looking at him.

"So what, you're just going to sit there and brood all night?" asked John flatly and EJ could hear him walking into his room, "I've tried it, it's not as helpful as you'd think."

John dropped the pack of cards down in front of EJ and EJ looked at them and sighed.

"Fine," he said, looking up at John, "Cards it is then."

**oooOOOOooo**

Lucas walked into the bedroom that Sami had opted to sleep in rather than share a bed with him and watched her as she slept. She was so beautiful. When he was in prison she'd been all he'd thought of, her and Ali. When she'd chosen EJ over him it had rocked his entire world and nothing made sense anymore. He knew that she hated him at the moment but it wasn't like she hadn't before. He knew Sami, she was capable of huge about faces - case in point, EJ DiMera. But Lucas also knew, deep down inside that she loved him. How many times had she told him that he was the love of her life? So many times and he believed her.

EJ had pursued her so relentlessly for these last two years that he'd made her lose sight of that but Lucas knew that he could get her back. Once she was away from that bastard's influence the old Sami would reappear, he just knew it. All he had to do was wait it out. Prison had taught him patience and he could wait. It had worked for EJ after all and it would work for him. Before too long EJ DiMera would be a distant memory for both Sami and his daughter.

**oooOOOOooo**

John rearranged his cards he was holding before laying them down on the table with a flourish.

"Gin," he announced happily.

EJ looked at him over the top of his cards and made an unimpressed face.

"We're playing poker Uncle John," he reminded him.

"Yeah but it turns out I don't remember how to play poker," John told him matter of factly.

"If that was the case then why were you the one to suggest poker in the first place?" asked EJ in consternation.

"I figured it would come back to me," he said blithely.

EJ looked at him expectantly.

"It didn't," said John calmly, "But I could remember how to play Gin Rummy for some reason."

"It's customary to let the other person know if you change the game you're playing halfway through you know Uncle?" said EJ in exasperation.

"Yeah but this way it's more exciting," said John knowingly.

"But no one can win the game if you do that," complained EJ, sitting back in the sofa with a groan.

"Of course they can," he protested, "I just did then - Gin remember?"

EJ opened his mouth to argue but gave up before he started.

"Winner deal?" asked John happily and EJ waved a defeated hand at him in silent agreement.

**oooOOOOooo**

Stefano sat by the fire, looking unseeingly into the flames. He took a sip from his brandy and sighed deeply. He had hoped to be sharing all of this with his grandson now but yet again his youngest son had foiled one of his plans. There was little in life as galling as an ungrateful child he decided to himself bitterly. All of his children had turned their backs on him but it hurt the most with Elvis. He was his youngest child, the one he'd groomed so carefully, lavished his love and attention on and the one who reminded him most of his beloved father. But it had all been for nothing, in the end he'd turned his back on his family, on his own father for some slip of a woman. He took another sip of his brandy and let his dark thoughts consume him utterly.

**oooOOOOooo**

"_EJ."_

_She was all around him, softness and warmth, the smell of her in his nostrils. He felt her against his body, melting into him, enveloping him so he wasn__'__t sure where she started and he began. He couldn__'__t seem to open his eyes no matter how hard he tried but he felt her move over him, her soft hair brushing against his skin as she kissed her way down his rapidly heating body._

"_I love you so much."_

_He tried to speak, tried to tell her how much he missed her but couldn__'__t seem to find his voice or even move for that matter. She glided up his body until he could feel the heat of her lips just above his, hovering just out of his reach, ever elusive. He willed her to kiss him, wanting the taste of her in his mouth again, needing it. _

"_Elvis," she breathed huskil__y._

_EJ frowned a little, she never called him that unless she was upset at him._

"_Elvis," she repeated, her voice lower now._

_EJ struggled to make sense of it, tried to make his voice work so he could ask why she was mad at him._

"_Elvis!" she said more lou__dly, "Nephew!"_

EJ's eyes flew open at that and he sat up in bed with a start, blinking blearily up at his uncle.

"What?" he said hoarsely, his heart hammering erratically from the fright John had given him and annoyed at him for the dream he'd just interrupted.

"My bed smells like weasel," John announced flatly.

"Wh… what does that mean?" asked EJ in confusion, still struggling to come fully awake.

"My bed," John repeated calmly, "Smells like weasel."

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" asked EJ in frustration, too tired to get him to explain that statement more fully.

John just looked back at him expressionlessly until EJ blew out an annoyed breath.

"Fine!" grumped EJ, throwing back the covers and climbing out of bed, clumping off to John's room.

"Like you even know what weasel smells like anyway," EJ muttered under his breath.

_Couldn__'__t he have one male relative that wasn__'__t insane?_

EJ walked in John's room and tiredly threw himself down onto the newly vacated bed. He rolled onto his side, pulling up the covers and punched the pillow into a more comfortable shape before laying his head on it. As soon as he did though he lifted it again.

_Okay, there was definitely something going on there alright. _

EJ gave a few tentative sniffs and realised that it was actually coming from the mattress itself. He got back out of bed and pulled the sheets off, flipping over the mattress hoping to put some distance between himself and that funk. As soon as he turned the mattress over though it became apparent as to why they'd chosen the other side for people to sleep on.

"Bloody hell," gasped EJ taking a couple of horrified steps back and putting a hand to cover his nose and mouth.

He'd heard urban legends about dead bodies being left under beds in hotel rooms and wondered if he was actually standing in one such room right now. Whatever the reason for that smell he knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep in the room now. He blew out a noisy breath and turned around, heading back to his room. He looked down at John lying in his old, non toxic bed.

"Is it morning already?" asked John ironically without opening his eyes.

"The bed smells," agreed EJ in annoyance.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" John smirked up at him.

"I'm not sleeping on the floor or that sofa," EJ informed him, "One is filthy and has cockroaches running all over it and the other is the floor."

"So?" prompted John innocently.

"So move over," said EJ, really not enjoying himself now.

"Okay," said John straight faced, moving over to the other side of the bed, "But I should warn you - I like to cuddle."

EJ didn't dignify that statement with a response, simply lying down in the bed and shaking his head at this latest development.

_A new personal low… excellent._

EJ calmed himself with imagining all of the things that he was going to do to Lucas to pay him back for all of this suffering. He fell asleep just as he got to bit where he was feeding him piece by piece into a tank of rabid piranhas. It turned out thinking vengeful thoughts about the man you hated the most in the world was quite soothing.

_Who knew?_


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter TWENTY**

EJ awoke the next morning to a loud banging at the door which abruptly stopped when the door was swung open. He propped himself up in bed and tried to get his sleep hazed eyes to focus and as he did he recognised the clerk from downstairs. He stood there looking at EJ steadily and that was when EJ remember about John. His uncle had woken up as well when the man had walked in the room and was returning the man's gaze steadily from his position beside EJ in the bed.

"We're not together," volunteered John happily and EJ just shook his head.

_Well it looked like the day wasn__'__t off to a particularly auspicious start._

"Phone call," said the clerk disinterestedly.

"You couldn't put it through to the room?" asked EJ steadily.

"Phone's broken, you need to come downstairs," he said unapologetically and walked out without closing the door behind him.

"Did I get it right this time?" asked John cheerfully, "About the not being together thing."

EJ turned and looked at his uncle stretched out in the double bed beside him and then back to stare dully ahead.

"That was perfect Uncle John," he said ironically, "I'm sure that's cleared everything up nicely now - good job."

"There you go," said John with a self satisfied smile, "No need for you to get all huffy now."

"Yes well," said EJ flatly, climbing out of bed, "I'll just go downstairs and take that phone call shall I?"

"Bring me back some breakfast," said John which earned him a scowl but he'd already rolled over onto his side and missed it.

EJ walked down the stairs, pulling his coat on as he did after getting quickly dressed upstairs. The clerk jerked his head at the phone receiver on the desk which EJ dutifully picked up.

"Hello?" he said and then frowned, "Lexie? Is everything alright? Why didn't you ring me on my cell?"

"Everything's fine EJ," his sister reassured him, "And I couldn't get through on your cell for some reason."

It was then EJ remembered he hadn't charged it the night before what with all of John's distractions.

"Sorry," he apologised, "Forgot to charge the silly thing."

"But everything is alright though?" she asked a little anxiously, she'd obviously been worried when she couldn't contact him.

"Everything is great," said EJ and giving a smile to the clerk.

_If you don__'__t count staying in a place that even a dung beetle that had lost the will to live would think twice about booking a room in and having just slept with your uncle of course._

"Couldn't be better," he continued on smoothly, "How's Johnny?"

"He's wonderful," she said and EJ could hear the smile in her voice, "He and Theo are having a great time together."

"I miss him," said EJ sadly, wishing he could be in two places at once, "So much - can you give him a kiss for me?"

"Of course I will," said Lexie, "How's it all going there?"

"We've got some things to follow up," said EJ, "I'm hoping today will give us some fresh leads. Is there anything Roman and Abe's end?"

"Not yet," she replied, "But I'm sure they'll let you know as soon as they find something."

EJ decided he wasn't going to hold his breath waiting for that revelation but refrained from saying anything. He and Lexie chatted for a little longer until the clerk made it quite clear that he thought EJ's time was up.

"I have to go Lexie," said EJ, "Thank you for everything you're doing for Johnny and I - it means so much."

"Just make sure you take care of yourself and get home safely," she said, sounding anxious again, "And for goodness sake EJ - charge your cell phone!"

"I will," he smiled, "Thanks Lexie."

They said their goodbyes and he hung up. EJ looked over at the clerk who was sitting behind the counter now eating some kind of egg and bacon sandwich whilst reading a newspaper. The egg was dripping down on to his what probably used to be a white singlet but was now a kind of thousand wash grey colour.

"Excuse me?" he said but the man didn't look up so he said it a bit louder, "Excuse me!"

"Yeah?" said the clerk who appeared to have bored indifference down to an art form.

"You'd know this area pretty well I suspect," said EJ.

"What of it?" he shrugged, "No crime against that."

"Of course not," said EJ evenly, "But you'd see a lot of people coming and going. Get to talk to a lot of different people wouldn't you?"

"Suppose," said the clerk, "What's it to you?"

"I'm looking for my wife…" he began, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet with a photo of Samantha in it.

"I haven't seem him come down the stairs," the clerk interrupted him, "He's probably still waiting for you in your room."

EJ grimaced.

"That was my uncle," he explained, trying to sound calm.

"Uncle… daddy," said the man uncaringly going back to his paper, "Whatever you want to call it is fine by me."

Working this job for as long as he had the clerk had pretty much seen it all and these two were in no way the weirdest couple he'd had staying here.

"Right," said EJ pursing his lips and deciding just to move on, he held up the photo, "This is her."

The man flicked the briefest of glances at the photo.

"Ain't seen her," he said flatly and went back to his newspaper.

"Are you sure?" pushed EJ, trying to hold onto his temper.

"Don't I look sure," said the man not even bothering to look at him when he spoke.

EJ grimaced and pulled out a roll of money from his wallet - he knew how to deal with his kind. The sound of money being counted quickly caught the clerks attention and he looked up, suddenly riveted. EJ peeled off two fifties and leant forward over the counter.

"I'm extremely eager to find her," he told the man, his voice low and determined sounding, "If you were to find out anything I would be very interested in that information."

"How interested?" asked the clerk, still fixated by the money roll in front of him.

"Excessively," said EJ coolly, "How about you have another look at the picture eh?"

The clerk leaned forward and took a closer look at the picture before looking at EJ again.

"Nope," he said but then looked at the money before looking back at EJ, "But I could ask around if you want. A pretty girl like that - people are going to remember."

"She'd probably be travelling with a dark haired man and a little blonde baby - nine months old," said EJ handing him one of the fifty dollar bills, "You'd be suitably compensated for your trouble."

The man snatched at the money and quickly pocketed it as though EJ would suddenly change his mind.

"Yeah well," he muttered, "I'll keep an eye out."

"Thank you," said EJ evenly, "My uncle and I will be out for the morning but will be back after lunch. Maybe you'll have something for me then."

"Yeah, maybe," said the clerk.

EJ nodded and headed back up to his room to charge his phone and get himself organised for the day ahead.

**oooOOOOooo**

Sami smiled in her sleep and let out a happy sigh.

_She felt his hands drift down her body, from her chin, down her neck and to her stomach. Her nipples tightened in anticipation of EJ__'__s next touch as she felt his hand slide up under her pyjama top. He cupped her softness and she purred, arching into the intimate touch, craving more. His thumb ran back and forth roughly over her nipple, hardening the turgid bud even more but she quickly wanted more. He was too far away and she blindly reached for him, eyes still closed, wanting to feel the hard length of him against her again._

"_EJ," she moaned, grabbing at his shirt front and pulling him down to her, "Please, more!"_

"Sami!" the harsh voice woke her from her dream state and she sat bolt upright, recoiling from Lucas in horror and frantically smacking away at his hands that were still on her body.

She tried to get away from him so fast that she banged her head on the bed head behind her which gave her another dose of reality as if she needed it.

"Oww!" she cried out, grabbing at the back of her head and taking her hand away to discover a bit of blood there, "Lucas - what the hell do you think you are doing!"

"Are you alright?" asked Lucas in concern seeing the blood.

"Of course I'm not alright!" she bit out angrily, "I wake up to find you coping a feel - how is that meant to make me feel?!"

"You seemed to be enjoying it," said Lucas harshly, still smarting from her calling out another man's name.

"Only because I wasn't in my right mind and I thought you were EJ!" she spat out, "Now get out of my room Lucas or so help me…"

She let the threat trail off as she glared at him menacingly.

"Fine," growled Lucas as he slunk off the bed and out of the room, "Whatever."

Leaving them both alone to lick their wounds in private.

**oooOOOOooo**

It was just before lunch and John and EJ were waiting for Mr Newman to arrive. They were standing by one of the many eateries in the French Quarter and EJ was becoming impatient. The other man wasn't even late yet but he was anxious to hear if he'd discovered anything else about Sami and Ali's whereabouts. He suddenly had the feeling that someone was staring at him and he turned his head to find John staring intently at him or more precisely his nose.

"What?" frowned EJ, unconsciously raising a hand to his nose and brushing it in case there was something on it, "What is it?"

"It whistles," announced John expressionlessly.

"What whistles?" asked EJ in confusion.

"Your nose," supplied John, "When you sleep, your nose whistles."

"Don't be absurd," dismissed EJ with a shake of his head, "Of course it doesn't."

"And how would you know?" asked John quite correctly, "Are you awake when you're asleep nephew?"

"Well obviously not," said EJ in frustration, "But if my nose did 'whistle' as you say then I'm sure Samantha would have mentioned it."

"It's only when you're on your back," John informed him, "And maybe she's a heavy sleeper and has never noticed or maybe she finds it endearing or maybe she spends half the night with a pillow just above your face deciding if the jail time would be worth it."

EJ pulled back a little and eyed his uncle suspiciously. That last thing sounded a little too grounded in reality for EJ's liking and did he remember a dream where he was underwater and couldn't breath there for awhile?

"Did you try and smother me in my sleep Uncle?" asked EJ in a kind of resigned horror.

"Don't be ridiculous nephew," he said straight faced, "That would be like you trying to shoot me and as you've so reliable reassured me - that never actually happened."

"First thing we're doing when we get back to the hotel is get another mattress for that room," said EJ flatly.

"Was there ever any kind of question about that?" asked John expressionlessly.

"Absolutely not," said EJ emphatically.

Further discussion about his uncle's homicidal tendencies were interrupted when Mr Newman arrived, perfectly on time. The men shook hands and quickly found a table at one of the nearby restaurants. EJ waited impatiently while the waitress took their orders and as soon as she'd left he immediately started with his questions.

"Did you find out anything else?" he asked directly, "What did the car hire places show, was there anything that might have suggested that Lucas hired a car there?"

"I've been to them all and checked them out," he said calmly, "Don't ask me how but I managed to get records of all of the different rental businesses for that day and had some a friend at the Bureau run a few checks for me. Turns out the names all check out except for two."

Mr Newman reached into his pocket and pulled out his notepad, putting his glasses on at the same time.

"I have two names that flagged," said Mr Newman, "From two different car rental agencies. One is a Mark Johnson and the other is a William Taylor. I've managed to get some details on both of these men's travel plans - the first was heading into the Bayou for some kind of off road adventure apparently and the other was continuing on to Jackson."

"And there is no way to narrow it down any?" asked EJ, "They've basically headed off in opposite directions to each other."

"No," said Mr Newman, "That's the best I can do."

"Well," said John logically, "There are three of us and two different areas to search, it seems pretty straight forward to me."

"I was thinking the same thing," agreed the older man.

"We'll take the Bayou," volunteered EJ, "You head on up to Jackson and see what you can find out."

"Just remember," cautioned Mr Newman, "We still have no way of knowing for sure that either of these are going to be our guy. Neither descriptions of those men who picked up the keys matched our guys."

"That doesn't mean anything," EJ dismissed easily, "There is nothing to say Lucas couldn't have had someone else pick up the keys for him, in fact it is more than likely."

"Of course," said Mr Newman, "But I just want you to keep your hopes realistic Mr DiMera. This is still a long shot."

"Thank you for your concern Mr Newman," said EJ determinedly, "But when it comes to gambling it turns out I'm pretty lucky."

"But not at cards though," interjected John blithely, "Turns out he sucks at Gin Rummy."

"That's because you keep changing the game and the rules halfway through!" protested EJ in exasperation.

"Sore loser," said John unconcerned.

"Insane lunatic," returned EJ under his breath.

"Can you have sane lunatics?" asked John with great interest, "How would that work?"

"I think your best bet would be to go via the river into the Bayou," said Mr Newman, seeing the conversation was going nowhere and deciding to get things back on track, "If you go out to the docks from here you should be able to hire a boat to get you there. There are several houses along the river where Johnson claimed to be staying. I don't have an exact address for you but I've narrowed it down to about four or so that it is most likely to be given the mileage this guy was expecting to do."

"So what?" asked John, "We just cruise down the river and knock on doors until it's the convict that opens one of the doors?"

"That would be about the size of it," agreed Mr Newman with a shrug.

"I like it," announced John happily, "It's simple and to the point and there is an excellent chance that I'll get to hurt someone. All in all a good plan."

"Ah you know I really can't advocate you taking the law into your own hands here," said Mr Newman giving a bit of a concerned look at John, "If you were to find your family I would have to advise that you inform the local authorities immediately so that they could deal with it."

"Yeah," snorted John giving the other man a knowing look, "That's exactly what we're planning on doing."

Mr Newman just looked steadily back at him, his expression unchanging.

"Oh," said John finally, "You were serious… interesting."

"My uncle and I have no intention of breaking the law," said EJ quickly, shooting John a warning look.

"We don't?" said John sounding very disappointed now.

"Of course not," said EJ smoothly and smiled reassuringly at the other man.

"I have been seriously mislead about the nature of this trip," grumbled John unhappily.

"I promise you Mr Newman," said EJ calmly, "I only want to do what is in the best interest of my family. More than anything I want them home safely and in one piece. I would never do anything to jeopardise that."

"Fine," said Mr Newman, still looking at John a little worriedly, "So I'll make my arrangements and leave in the afternoon. I recommend you charter a boat this afternoon and leave in the morning so you have a full day ahead of you. The houses I've marked are a fair way up the river, you'll need the whole day to get up and back again."

"Thank you," said EJ as their food arrived, "I appreciate how thorough you've been with all your investigations on my behalf Mr Newman."

"As long as it gets your wife and daughter back to you safely that is all that matters," said Mr Newman.

"And yet you won't let me hurt anyone," said John morosely, salting his food.

"I think we can do one with out the other," said Mr Newman, really hoping that this Lucas character was the one in Jackson - for everyone's sake.

"Says you," said John and promptly leant over and pulled about ten straws out of the straw dispenser on the table and pocketed them.

He looked up to see the private investigator looking at him strangely and his nephew looking at him with a decidedly suspicious look on his face.

"What?" he said innocently, "No law against a man carrying some straws is there?"

John frowned then and looked at EJ.

"Is there?"

"No," said EJ flatly, "There isn't."

"Well there you go then," said John with a self satisfied look and patted his straw filled pocket.

EJ gave a weak smile to Mr Newman and then determinedly started to eat his lunch trying not to dwell on the fact that the fate of his family could well rest in the hands of a man who had just armed himself with straws.

Every time he thought it couldn't get any worse John always managed to give him a new thing to worry about. EJ also made a mental note to lock the adjoining door between their rooms tonight. Between John having ready access to both pillows and straws now there was a pretty good chance he was going to wake up dead tomorrow if he didn't!


	21. Chapter 21

**AUTHOR'S NOTE****: **So the adventures of EJ and Uncle John continue in this chapter – or EJJo I suppose LOL . Uncle John is simply a joy to write for and he has a perfect straight man in EJ who is usually unflappable and that is why it is so much fun to have John getting under his skin.  I'm so sad in the show that they didn't make more of their relationship and really much of John's character with his amnesia. I think there was endless potential to re-invent John and breathe new life into a well known character and have a lot of fun with it. In the next installment of this saga – "Wild Horses…" – Uncle John really comes into his own and it is just hard not to love him IMO, even if you weren't a huge John fan before. I'm not sure how a diehard John fan would go with this version of him though because he is quiet different but then old John always had a slightly cheeky way to him which I'm trying to show in new John – just in a very dry, straight faced way. It's hard to know if some of the stuff Uncle John does is from honest ignorance or whether he's just yanking people's chain. LOL

Now just a quick side note to pufkinz about the site "Forbidden Love" – can't reply via PM for some reason. Yes, you do have to have 30 posts and PM the mods for the password to the Smut Hut for the naughty stuff so sorry about that. LOL It is quick and easy to get the 30 posts though – just do a lot of welcoming to people and join in on subjects and agree with people. ;) Unfortunately here and there are the only places you can catch up on my stories and the FL does come with all the bells and whistles – especially my "Fated" story where I've got moving gifs to illustrate some chapters – I know a girl who's clever. ;)

So I'm just posting this one chapter for now and will try and do some more posting soon. This is a favourite EJJo chapter of mine – after the hotel bed one of course, that still makes me laugh – self involved I know but true. *blush*

Toodles… Lou

**Chapter TWENTY-ONE**

Later that same day EJ and John walked along the docks until they came to some boats for charter that they'd been told would take them up the Mississippi through the Bayou. As he approached EJ could hear the men working on the docks talking to each other in French. He stopped in front of one man and smiled at him.

"Pardon, parlez-vous anglais?" he asked the man in flawless French.

"What did you just say?" asked John with interest.

"I asked if he spoke English," explained EJ to one side and saw the man shake his head, "Non?"

EJ smiled again.

"Pouvez-vous m'aider?" he asked politely, "Où se trouve location d'embarcations?"

"What did you say?" asked John again and EJ sent him a vaguely annoyed look.

"I asked if he could help us and where we could hire a boat," he replied.

"Oh," said John, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

The man said nothing but pointed out another man further on down the docks.

"Trout droit?" he said, "Merci beaucoup."

"Straight ahead," said EJ getting in before John could ask as they started to walk, "And then I thanked him."

"So you speak French," pondered John, taking in this new information.

"I was taught it in grade school and I used it often with my racing in Europe," explained EJ casually, "They speak a Cajun French in these parts but we can still understand one another."

"Hm," said John, seeming to think on that for a moment, "Do I speak French?"

"I have no idea Uncle John," said EJ in exasperation.

"Say something in French," said John.

"I just did," he pointed out but relented when John just stared at him, "Fine - Il faut prendre quelle direction, pour aller vers le centre ville?"

John pursed his lips and seemed to think hard on it as they walked down the docks.

"Well?" prompted EJ eventually.

"I got nothing," admitted John blankly, "I guess I don't speak French."

"Which way to the town centre from here?" said EJ.

"Back the way we came of course," said John with a frown, looking at EJ like he was a bit of an idiot, "We just came from it fifteen minutes ago."

"No Uncle," sighed EJ.

"Yes we did!" protested John, "I may have amnesia but I can recall that far back!"

"I was translating what I said," said EJ through clenched teeth, "The question was about the town centre."

"You can speak French but you've got no sense of direction," pondered John almost to himself, "I know which I'd prefer to be able to do."

EJ blew out a frustrated breath at his uncle's obtuseness, trying to work out if it was intentional or not.

"Aidez-moi, je vous prie!" he muttered under his breath.

"What?" queried John innocently but they were now standing in front of the man that had been pointed out to them so EJ just ignored him.

"Bonjour comment ça va?" he asked of the man, "Location d'embarcations?"

"Oui," said the man who looked to be in his early thirties or so.

"Bon," smiled EJ and introduced himself, "Je m'appelle EJ Wells."

EJ used his mother's name just in case.

"Où est...?" EJ pointed on the map at the possible places that they thought Lucas might be hiding out in.

John wandered off to the side a little as he listened to the two men talk back and forth in French, sticking his hands in his pockets and surveying the comings and goings of the busy dock with some interest. A woman approached him and smiled invitingly up at him, John arched an eyebrow and tilted his head at her which she took as encouragement.

"Uncle," called out EJ after a little bit and John turned back round from where he'd been talking to the woman and sauntered back to where they were standing.

"Felix here," he nodded at the other man, "Is going to take us up the river tomorrow."

EJ looked at Felix.

"Quel est le prix s'il vous plait?" he asked.

"Cent dollars," Felix replied.

"For a hundred dollars he will take us as far up as here," EJ indicated on his map again for John's benefit.

"Sounds like a plan," said John, "Tomorrow it is then."

**oooOOOOooo**

Sami inched her way slowly into Lucas bedroom, being very careful not to make a noise and disturb him as he lay dozing. She had Ali all ready to go in the car in her car seat, all she had to do was get the car keys out of his pocket and then she and her daughter were out of there. Originally Sami had tried to hot wire the car but as soon as she got in behind the wheel and stuck her head under the dash like she'd seen them do in movies she realised that she had absolutely no idea what to do next. So Plan B was to get the keys from Lucas. She inched ever closer to him her heart pounding so loudly in her ears that she was afraid that he was going to be able to hear it and be woken up.

Sami edged into the room, cringing as an old floor board creaked but Lucas didn't stir so she kept going. Very slowly she reached out a hand, watching his face all the time for any signs that he might be waking up and grabbed the top of the keys that were poking out of his jeans pocket between two fingers. Very carefully she began to pull on them, trying to gently dislodge them from their pocket without them making any noise or moving too much. Sami bit her lip in concentration feeling like each passing second was an hour but finally she managed to get the car keys out of his pocket. She almost sobbed with the relief. Carefully she backed up, turning around slowly and heading towards the door.

"Going somewhere Sami?"

She froze at the sound of Lucas' voice suddenly, her heart practically jumping out of her mouth. Sami then tried to make a bolt for the door but Lucas was too quick for her, leaping out of bed and getting in front of her, slamming the door shut before turning around and advancing on her angrily.

"What are you doing Sami?" he asked her, his face hard.

"What do you think I'm trying to do Lucas?" she asked him, her chin going up defiantly, never one to back down from a fight, "I'm getting my daughter the hell away from you."

"_Our_ daughter," Lucas reminded her, "Our daughter Sami. She was created in love, yours and mine - our love for each other."

"Let us go Lucas," said Sami, taking a step back as he continued to advance on her, "They are going to find us and when they do…"

"They're not going to find us Sami," said Lucas confidently, "I've made real sure of that. Right now your father is probably in Mexico if he followed all the clues I left him, maybe he can work on his tan some while he's there."

"EJ will find me, find us," said Sami, ignoring his weak attempt at humour, "EJ always comes for me."

"He does seem to have a knack," agreed Lucas bitterly, "But not this time Sami."

"Oh why?" she taunted him, "Because you've outsmarted him? Unlikely Lucas!"

"Because he's dead," lied Lucas cruelly, enjoying the look of horrified disbelief on her face.

"You're lying!" she accused him, suddenly feeling sick, "You told me that he was alright!"

"I needed you to stay calm," said Lucas, his lips pressed together giving them a particularly mean look, "Stefano had him killed the night you and the twins were taken. It was easy, he was unconscious from the drugs you were all given. Stefano didn't want Junior getting in the way for his plans for his grandson so he did what he had to do."

Sami took an unsteady step back, feeling as though she couldn't breath. It couldn't be true, EJ couldn't be dead. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest at the thought she would never see her husband again, the man she'd loved like no other. This couldn't be happening. She looked at Lucas with stunned eyes, trying to make sense of such a cruel blow and saw that the malicious satisfaction in his face. Sami let out a strangled cry and launched herself at him, clawing at his face, hitting him with her fists and all the time screaming at him.

"You bastard!" she screamed, "You murdering bastard - I'm going to kill you!!"

Lucas was caught off guard for only a split second reacting quickly this time, not like he'd done at the hospital when she'd last attacked him. He managed to grab her wrists and shove her roughly backwards, forcing her back towards the bed. Sami's legs hit the bed and she stumbled back onto the bed, Lucas going with her as he refused to let go of her wrists. The breath was knocked out of her as all of Lucas' weight landed on top of her suddenly. He pinned her arms above her head, straddling her now and stopping her from moving away. She writhed under him, angry grief stricken tears spilling down her cheeks now as she tried desperately to break free.

"Are those tears for him?" asked Lucas angrily, a bit out of breath from their struggle now, "Are you crying for that bastard Sami? Is that it? Are you sad he's dead?"

"Don't!" she screamed at him, "_Don__'__t_ say that!"

"Maybe I've been doing it all wrong," said Lucas harshly, "Maybe that's how you like it nowadays huh? Like it a bit rough now is that it? After all you fell for the man who raped you didn't you? Maybe I should take a leaf out of Junior's book - it seemed to work for him after all didn't it Sami?!"

Lucas leant down and pressed a fierce kiss against Sami's unwilling lips the weeks of frustration and powerlessness he'd been feeling suddenly overwhelming him. She had fought him about everything and he wanted to punish her for that, make her feel the pain he was feeling so that she'd understand what it was that she'd done to him with her rejection. Lucas tasted blood in his mouth and he didn't know if it was his or hers but wouldn't end the brutal kiss.

Sami frantically tried to escape his grasp but it was useless he was just too strong for her. She began to panic squirming under him wildly trying to break free. His fingers bit cruelly into her wrists and she knew her skin would be marked with bruises because of it. He wasn't relenting and Sami began to fear that he was actually not going to stop and it terrified her.

The sound of Ali's crying drifted into the bedroom from where she was still strapped into the car and both of the adults froze. The sound of his daughter's cries seemed to bring Lucas back to his senses and he loosened his grip on Sami, breaking the kiss. Sami gave a choked sob of relief and scrambled away from him, covering her bruised and swollen mouth, looking at him in abject horror.

"Sami," said Lucas hoarsely, reaching out a regretful hand towards her, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…"

"Stay away from me!" she sobbed, flinching away from his touch, "Don't you _ever_ touch me again!"

Sami stumbled off the bed, running towards the door to go and answer her daughter's cries. Lucas watched her go and cursed his temporary loss of control that had caused this, knowing he'd created yet more obstacles for Sami and he to overcome in his frustration. Lucas fell back on the bed and covered his face with his hands despairingly.

**oooOOOOooo**

The boat that EJ had hired chugged along the river, its noisy motor becoming part of the back ground noise as they moved along. There were quite a few other boats on the water that passed by, fishermen, tourists and people just generally getting about on the water. EJ and John sat at the front of the boat whilst Felix kept to himself overseeing the engine that occasionally smoked and spluttered. John looked around with interest at all the going's on. EJ looked up from the map he was studying on his knee to note his uncle's rapt attention.

"Is this your first time on the water?" he asked, momentarily forgetting his uncle's situation.

"Thanks to my brother just about everything is a first time for me nowadays," said John with no particular malice which EJ found to be rather surprising.

"Do you hate what my father has done to you?" asked EJ curiously, "Taking all of your memories I mean."

"I don't know," shrugged John, "Sometimes I think I should thank him."

"Why?" asked EJ intrigued, tilting his head at him.

"How many people get a do over in life?" asked John, "I mean a real one - a complete blank slate."

"But it's only for you," pointed out EJ, "Everyone else remembers the old John."

"Yeah I know," he said with a roll of his eyes, "If I hear one more 'the John I know would never…" story I'm ready to start taking hostages."

"I'm going to go ahead and take that as a figure of speech rather than an actual threat," said EJ wryly.

"If that makes you feel better than sure nephew, knock yourself out," said John expressionlessly.

EJ grimaced and returned to his map reading, trying to familiarise himself with their surrounds so that if they did find Lucas then he would be ready. There was relative silence for awhile but EJ knew that was too good to last and he was right.

"I was thinking…" began John.

"Oh god," said EJ flatly, not looking up from his map.

"You know how in the beginning I wasn't sure about drinking coffee again after I lost my memory?" he mused, "You know, because it was all black and weird looking."

"Mm," said EJ wondering where this was going but still not looking up - it was best not to encourage him too much he'd found.

"But I really liked the smell of it," continued on John, "So I gave it a go. It was kind of bitter but I got used to it and now I really like it."

"Yes," said EJ slowly, determinedly still reading his map.

"Well I really like the smell of gasoline," finished John.

This made EJ look up at last to see his uncle looking at him expectantly.

"Uncle John!" said EJ firmly, "You can't drink gasoline!"

"Are you just saying that because it's an acquired taste or…" John quizzed him.

"I'm saying it because it will _kill_ _you_!" exclaimed EJ in horror - just what the hell went through this man's head minute to minute anyway?

"Phmf," he said dismissively and waved a hand at him, "They say the same thing about coffee and look how many people drink that."

"But drinking gasoline will kill you _instantly_!" said EJ, his voice starting to get louder, "None of that waiting around for thirty years business for side effects. You'll be dead after the first mouthful!"

"So you're saying you have to dilute it a bit," mused John, "Okay - how much?"

"_Don__'__t_ drink gasoline!" snapped EJ and gave him a desperate look, "_Ever_… under _any_ circumstance! Do you understand me Uncle John?!"

Sometimes EJ felt like he had three children rather than two with his uncle around - unbelievable!

"Fine," said John a little huffily, "Don't get your briefs in a bunch - I won't drink gasoline… even though it does smell good. Happy now?"

"There are no words," said EJ sarcastically and attempted a deep calming breath before going back to his map with a shake of his head.

He looked up suddenly then and fixed John with a fierce look as a thought occurred to him.

"What?" asked John when he saw the way EJ was looking at him.

"Just promise me something Uncle," said EJ determinedly, "If you can't remember if something is edible or not _ask_ someone before just hoeing in - okay? Please?"

"Alright," shrugged John, not exactly sure why his nephew was making such a big deal about all this, "I'll ask before I try and food anything."

EJ opened his mouth to say that wasn't the right way of saying that - you don't 'food' things but decided to let it go. He didn't want to give John too much information all at once. The important thing was that he thought to ask before eating things that might kill him. EJ wondered just how many things this man had eaten, mistaking them for food. It didn't bear thinking about really.

There was silence for another mile or so and then before John spoke again.

"So," he said suddenly, "Brazilians…"

"Which were you contemplating eating?" asked EJ with a wry smile still concentrating on his map, "The nut or the people?"

"This isn't a food question… wait - there's a Brazilian nut?" asked John interrupting himself this time, "Hm… maybe that explains it."

"Maybe that explains what Uncle?" asked EJ, curious despite himself.

"There was this woman at the docks," explained John, looking thoughtful, "When you were hiring this boat. She just came up and started to talk to me and then she offered to show me her Brazilian for twenty bucks."

EJ made a kind of pained grimacing expression that John didn't seem to notice - continuing on blithely.

"But that seems like an awful lot of money just to look at a nut," pondered John, looking at EJ expectantly, "I mean, how great can it be really? Twenty dollars worth of great? What's so special about the Brazilian anyway, is it really huge or weird looking or something? Can you do tricks with it or what?"

"Uncle John, do you have that list you started with Samantha on you?" asked EJ straight faced, "Because if you do I have something I'd like to add to it."

"But…" John went to protest but EJ stalled him with a raised hand.

"I'm instigating a time out policy," said EJ imperiously, "You say something horrifying and then you're not allowed to speak for twenty minutes after that - understand?"

"So which was the horrifying thing?" asked John in confusion, "The gasoline or the nut thing?"

"Let's call it a forty minute time out because they were equally horrifying," said EJ and looked at his watch, "Starting… now. Oh and if you speak before your time is up we have to start again."

EJ looked at his uncle who was making a petulant face but rather remarkably, was doing as EJ had instructed.

_Oh God, why hadn__'__t he__'__d thought of this before?!_

All of those bizarre conversations could have been avoided or at the very least cut back a lot if he'd just thought of having a time out before now. Maybe he hadn't been too far off the mark in thinking of John as another child - a strange, hairy, fully grown child of course but none the less, this actually seemed to be working. EJ tried not to look as stunned as he felt and went back to his map reading - this was too good to be true.

"So are you going to tell me when my time is up?" asked John suddenly, "And what if I've got really something important to say like - hey, should that be on fire? Does whistling count and what about humming? Can I talk to other people or is just you that I can't talk to? Can I talk to myself? How do I know…"

EJ rubbed his face tiredly with his hand as John continued with all of his questions.

_Yup, definitely too good to be true alright._


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter TWENTY-TWO**

John walked around the run down cottage that EJ had charged him with checking out. This was the first of four houses that Mr Newman had thought might be a possibility of Lucas having rented but the signs didn't look promising. Firstly there was no rental car and secondly even the convict wouldn't have brought Sami and his daughter to this ramshackle old house. It didn't even look like anyone had been there for years. The place didn't even look like it had electricity or running water, a large water tank out the bank suggesting they just collected what fell from the sky.

John hoped his nephew was having better luck with the house he was looking at across the river. To be thorough though John decided to knock on the door to see if anyone was home and if maybe they'd seen anything out of the ordinary. He walked up to the door, the old wooden porch groaning under his weight - it had seen better days too. John lifted his hand to knock on the door but before he could it was swung open and he was looking down the barrel of a shot gun pointed directly at his face. The grubby, grizzled looking man on the other end of it looked at him, his expression one of distrust and annoyance.

"Read the sign," barked the man, jerking his gun briefly to one side to indicate a battered and faded sign stuck on one of the trees, "Private property - trespassers _will_ be shot."

John looked down at the gun, then back at the man and then arched an eyebrow.

**oooOOOOooo**

EJ blew out a disappointed breath as he walked back from the house he'd just visited in the hopes that it might have been where Lucas had Sami and Ali but it was a dead end. Through the windows he could see the white sheets covering the furniture, the house obviously not being used. He walked down to the little dock that Felix had dropped him off on and climbed back into the boat. Felix then backed the boat up and turned around, crossing back up the river a little bit to collect John.

They waited for about ten minutes or so for John to arrive back at the designated meeting point and EJ was just starting to become concerned that maybe he'd found them and something had gone wrong when his uncle appeared suddenly in the clearing, walking unhurriedly towards them. He walked along yet another dock, the river was littered with them and jumped down into the boat.

"No joy?" asked EJ.

"John," he replied with a frown, "My name is John."

"It's an expression," sighed EJ, "It means - no luck?"

"Then that's what you should say," said John expressionlessly, "And no, no joy."

EJ nodded his head at Felix indicating he should move on and then suddenly noticed something. He looked down at the black coat John was wearing, or more specifically, the front pocket of the coat.

"Where are the rest of your straws Uncle?" asked EJ, suddenly suspicious.

He'd rolled his eyes when he'd seen his uncle meet him ready to get on the boat with a full pocket of straws in his jacket pocket but had said nothing. Now that pocket was only half full and even though EJ knew it was impossible, he felt himself start to worry. John just looked back at him steadily with his usual blank look and EJ felt his dread increase.

"Please god tell me you haven't actually managed to kill someone with a straw Uncle?!" asked EJ feeling stupid even voicing the question but this was John they were talking about after all.

"No," said John and EJ released the breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding with relief.

"Technically they're keeping him alive right now so no, I haven't used the straws to kill anyone," finished John expressionlessly.

"Oh god!" exclaimed EJ hollowly, "What have you done Uncle John? Have you seriously hurt someone? Do we need to go back and rescue them?"

"Relax nephew," he said unconcerned, "The water will drain out soon enough and he won't need the straws."

EJ blinked and then blinked again, trying to work out what the hell that might mean, his mind boggling at to what John might have done with the straws and whoever his poor hapless victim might have been.

"What does that mean?" asked EJ in a kind of resigned horrified confusion but then held up a hand, "On second thought don't tell me. Just promise me that you haven't left someone to die back there."

"Well everyone is going to die one day," philosophised John, "So that's a bit of a tricky one to answer."

"Is he going to die as a direct result of something _you_ just did to him?" said EJ, spacing out each of his words emphatically so he got his point across.

"Unlikely," said John and then seemed to think about it a bit, "Unless of course he lost the straws - then that might be a problem."

EJ made a frustrated noise and started towards the dock, feeling obligated to check now. John forestalled him though with a shake of his head.

"You're wasting your time nephew," he said calmly.

"Because you were only kidding about the straw and the water thing?" asked EJ hopefully.

"Will that make you feel better?" asked John sounding matter of fact.

"Of course it will!" exclaimed EJ.

"Then sure, let's go with the whole kidding thing then," said John calmly.

EJ looked at his uncle and shook his head in resignation. He really didn't have time for this!

"I'll be right back," he said tersely climbing back out of the boat, "You…!"

EJ jabbed a finger at John then.

"Sit there and don't move," he ordered him, "Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," said John, not seeming to be bothered at all.

EJ grimaced and broke into a run, heading back in the direction he'd seen his uncle come from. He re-emerged ten minutes later, jogging back to them and getting back into the boat. John was looking out at the water in the front of the boat again and didn't turn round when he heard EJ return. EJ silently took a seat beside his uncle, joining him at looking out at the watery vista and they sat in silence for a moment.

"Not dead right?" said John breaking the quiet and sounding ever so slightly smug.

EJ looked at his him and seemed to be choosing his next words very carefully.

"Uncle John," he said grimly, "I want you to promise me you won't _ever_ tell me how you managed to do that…"

John opened his mouth to say something but EJ waved an imperious finger at him.

"_Ever_ Uncle!" EJ warned him.

John shrugged and went back to looking out at the water. EJ sneaked a sideways glance at him as the boat slowly pulled out from the dock and continued on it's way, noting the happy expression on his face.

Just one normal male relative - just one… was that _really_ too much to ask?

They travelled for another hour or so and by now it was getting to be early afternoon and EJ knew they would have to be turning back soon. They only had two more houses to check on his map and again, he and John decided to split up because the houses were on different sides of the river. Felix had dropped him at a dock further on down the river because if by chance this was the house Lucas had Sami and Ali in he wanted the element of surprise rather than pulling up in a boat at their front doorstep.

He kept to the tree line as he approached the house, trying to keep his thoughts calm and focused. He needed his head in the game in case this was it and he attempted to suppress his fear for his family's safety and banishing crazy uncles wielding straws from his thoughts. EJ peered through the shrubbery at the house, noting the four wheel drive parked out front and felt his hopes start to lift. This looked far more promising. He went to move closer when he saw something that stole the very breath from his body.

**oooOOOOooo**

Sami walked numbly out of the house needing to be out of there for a little while. Ali was fast asleep, no worse the wear from having become upset at being left alone in the car for a little while. Sami wished she could say the same. The revelations of the morning had shattered her utterly. She just kept walking, trying to put some distance between her what Lucas had done and said to her. He'd frightened her with the way he'd practically attacked her like that but that felt like nothing compared to the knowledge that she'd lost EJ forever.

Sami walked until she was at the end of the little wooden dock, until she could go no further. She stared blankly into the water, the shock of EJ being dead still rocking her to her very core. Ever since the moment she'd laid eyes on him he'd consumed her thoughts, her feelings, one way or the other. Loving him, hating him, it didn't' matter, he'd always been there. For more than two years now he had been this galvanising force in her life and to know that he had suddenly been so cruelly taken from her made Sami feel more bereft and lost then she ever had before in her life. Even sitting on death row waiting to be executed hadn't felt like this. At least there had been an end in sight. Right now the rest of her life stretched out before her, alone and loveless because she'd lost the one man who'd always loved her, just as she was. She'd lost her soul mate.

Sami stood at the end of the little pier, knowing she could no longer be seen from the house, Lucas still not feeling the need to police her movements, especially when he had Ali asleep in the house. The tears that she'd refused to shed in front of Ali or certainly show Lucas finally came, blurring her vision as she sank slowly to the ground, her grief all but consuming her. She dropped her head in her hands and began to sob in earnest now.

**oooOOOOooo**

EJ had watched Sami walk out of the house, his heart giving a painful lurch in his chest at seeing her again after what had begun to feel like a life time apart now. He swallowed the urge to just call out to her, desperate to have her look at him, to see him but instead let her walk by, about one hundred feet from where he was currently crouched in the bushes. She seemed to be walking in a kind of a daze and the familiar fear coiled in his stomach as he tried to see if she was hurt in anyway. Maybe Lucas was still drugging her and the thought made his blood boil.

He tore his eyes off her briefly to glance back at the house but there seemed to be no movement there so he returned his attention back to Sami. EJ watched as she walked to the end of the little pier and stood there for a long minute, her back to him. He was galvanised into action though when he saw her almost fall to the ground and bury her head in her hands. Being sure to keep the cover of the bushes behind him he moved as quickly as he could to where Sami was now huddled over.

A quick look back at the house told EJ that they weren't going to be seen from the house once he was actually on the dock and intended to take full advantage of that fact. He crept up along the line of trees until he was at the dock and was close enough now to hear that Sami was crying and his heart broke at the sound. At last he was on the dock, walking along the uneven wooden boards quickly, desperate to get to her now. He was just behind her but she hadn't noticed, her small shoulders shaking as she sat there, hunched over and sobbing her heart out. EJ crouched down behind her and reached out a tentative hand, not wanting to startle her.

"Samantha," he said huskily, his voice breaking slightly as emotion threatened to overwhelm him.

Sami spun round as she sat there at the soft touch and the sound of her name, making a ragged gasping noise and putting both of her hands over her mouth as she stared with complete shock at the man she thought she'd never see again.

"Samantha," he said again, his dark eyes full of worry when she just continued to stare at him like he was some kind of ghost, "Sweetheart, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"E… EJ?" she stammered weakly, dropping her hands away from her mouth as she began to let herself believe that this apparition was indeed real.

"Samantha," he repeated achingly and she knew it was him and not her grief stricken imagination playing tricks on her.

"EJ!" she cried out, launching herself into his arms and wrapping her own arms tightly around his neck, "Oh my god EJ, you're alive!"

She felt his strong arms encircle her and hold her against him and she'd never felt so happy and safe as she did right then. EJ squeezed her tightly to him, feeling her shaking helplessly and relishing the feeling of having her in his arms again.

"Oh god sweetheart," he groaned into her neck, "I've missed you so much, I've been so frightened that I'd never see you again."

"EJ," she sobbed, pulling back and touching his face, her eyes darting all over his face as she tried to convince herself that he was actually here, "You're alright, you're here."

"I'm here Samantha," he told her achingly, "I've got you sweetheart."

"He… he told me you were dead," she said brokenly, the tears coursing down her face, "Lucas… he told me…"

"Oh god sweetheart," he said painfully, crushing her to him, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what he's put you and Ali through."

Sami struggled out of his arms then and looked at him wide eyed, suddenly remembering.

"Johnny!" she said frantically, grabbing his arms, "Stefano… he took Johnny, EJ he's got our son… I don't know where he is and…"

"He's safe," EJ hushed her growing panic, "The day after you went missing I tracked you down to Stefano's hideout. You and Ali were gone but I got Johnny back. He's perfectly safe and waiting for his mummy and sister back in Salem."

Sami gave another painful sob, her hands going back over her mouth as more tears spilled out of her now red eyes. The knowledge that her son was safe, that he had been this whole time all but overwhelming her and the relief caused her to almost collapse but EJ caught her before she toppled over, pulling her back into his arms even as he crouched beside her.

"He… he's safe," said Sami weakly when she could finally speak again, "Promise me EJ, he's safe, he's alright? Stefano didn't hurt him at all?"

"Not a hair on that gorgeous dark little head of his," smiled EJ tenderly, brushing away her the tears on her face with his fingers, "He's with Lexie right now, having the time of his life with his cousin."

Sami slumped against him as though a great weight that she'd been carrying all this time had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders.

"Ali?" asked EJ painfully, "Is she alright Samantha?"

"Yes," Sami nodded, her head still against his chest and gave a happy little sob, "She's fine EJ, perfect in fact."

EJ felt his own great burden lift from his shoulders as he heard that the little girl that he'd always considered to be his child was alright. EJ and Sami held onto each other, sharing the silent, heart wrenching communication of parents who had had their worlds returned to them with knowing their children were safe. EJ pulled back then and cupped Sami's face, looking at her tenderly.

"Sweetheart," he whispered to her, taking in every inch of her pale skin, "Are you alright?"

"I am now," she said, putting her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly.

"Did he hurt you?" asked EJ grimly and she could feel the sudden tension in his body, "What did he do to you Samantha?"

EJ had seen her bruised lips and could feel a rage like he'd never experience before start to shake his body. He didn't want to frighten Sami so he tried to contain it but it was almost impossible.

"It doesn't matter EJ," she said hastily, not wanting him to upset him any further, she reached up and cupped his face again, "Nothing matters now that you're here. I'm so happy to see you EJ. I thought I'd lost you forever."

EJ covered the hands that were cupping his face with his much larger ones before bringing her hands to his lips and kissing the back of them both. It was then that he noticed the ugly welts on her wrists, already starting to bruise and there were obvious telltale finger marks on her pale skin. Sami watched in horror as EJ's eyes went almost completely black in that one second of realisation of what Lucas had done to her. He slowly lifted his gaze to hers and her breath caught at the mixture of rage and agony that she saw there.

"No!" she said quickly, shaking her head at him, her hands on his chest, "It's alright EJ. Nothing happened!"

"I don't believe you Samantha," he said painfully, "What did Lucas do to you?"

"He stopped," she said, her lip quivering despite her best efforts to be reassuring him, "He stopped EJ. He didn't… he stopped."

"Samantha," said EJ softly, shaking his head at her and looking so heart broken and she couldn't bear it.

"Don't," she whispered and pulled on his shirt to bring his mouth down to hers and kiss away his pain.

EJ grimaced at the almost painful pleasure of being able to feel her lips against his again. The kiss was slow and achingly tender as they rediscovered each other through the gentle contact. EJ gave a little groan and buried his hands into her soft, golden, deepening the kiss unable to bear not tasting her fully any longer. Sami nearly swooned at the feel of his tongue inside her mouth and if she hadn't already been on the ground she well might have, the backs of her knees tingling at the sensation. His every touch drove her mad, not just physically but the joy of feeling the way he loved her was like nothing else she'd ever experienced.

EJ could feel himself beginning to shake and couldn't stop himself. He had her in his arms again and he was never going to let her go. His heart was making a painful tattoo in his chest at the ecstasy of knowing that she was safe and that they were together again. From the first moment he'd laid eyes on her over two years ago now she was every breath he'd taken, every dream he'd ever had. She was his soul and his heart beat - the thought of being without this vibrant, wildly beautiful woman was something that he knew he'd never be able to endure.

"I love you," he said painfully, his breathing uneven as he rested his forehead against hers, "I love you Samantha."

"I love you too," she said and gave a little choked half smile, "I just want to go home EJ, with Ali and to see Johnny again."

"And you will," he said grimly, tucking the stray hairs framing her face behind her ears and letting his fingers trace along her jaw line until they met at her chin, "You stay here, I'll go and get Ali and this will be all over."

"No," said Sami anxiously, "I need to go and get Ali. If Lucas sees you there will be hell to pay. I'll go in and get Ali, I'll tell him I want to go for a walk with her or something and then we can meet up with you and get out of here. How did you get here anyway?"

"Boat," said EJ shortly but was already shaking his head, "There is no way Samantha that I am going to let you go back into that house. Absolutely not! He's clearly hurt you and I won't allow you to be put in anymore danger than you already have been."

"This is what's best for Ali," said Sami, her old stubbornness returning, "I can do this EJ, trust me."

"I do trust you sweetheart," said EJ earnestly, "It's that maniac in there that I have the issues with! You can't ask me to let you walk into harms way Samantha, not after everything that is happened. I can't!"

"Yes you can," said Sami determinedly, "This is what is best for Ali and you can't stop me!"

"You are the most stubborn, unreasonable creature I have ever met!" said EJ in exasperation.

"But you love me right?" she said and then gave a little smirk, knowing she'd won by the look on his face.

"I _adore_ you Samantha," he corrected her, "But I still hate this plan."

"It will work," she said confidently, leaning forward and kissing him, "You wait here for me and I'll bring Ali out and then we can get the hell away from here and from Lucas."

She saw EJ's face darken at the mention of the other man's name.

"Hey," she said, touching his face and making him look at her, "Don't you even think about it. I just want us all to get away from here together, I don't want some showdown, I just want out do you hear me? After that I don't care what happens to Lucas, he can be on the run for the rest of his life or be eaten by alligators, I don't care. I just want you and Ali to be safe!"

"Wow but you're bossy," said EJ with a little quirk of lips, "How could I have forgotten that in such a short amount of time?"

Sami smiled back at him, hardly able to believe that not ten minutes ago she was in a pit of despair and now with EJ beside her she felt like she could take on an army and not work up a sweat!

What this man did to her.

EJ looked at this woman, so fearlessly ready to fight for what she loved and was amazed by her yet again, in awe of her fierce strength.

"So?" she prompted him, "Wait for me here?"

"Yes," he said unhappily, "But you've got five minutes, after that I come in and get you, right?"

"You won't need to," she reassured him.

"Does he have a gun?" EJ suddenly thought to ask.

"I haven't seen one," shrugged Sami, so I don't think so.

"Right," said EJ thoughtfully.

"No EJ!" said Sami determinedly, "Just stay here, the last thing I want is for you to get shot now."

"With you by my side bullets will bounce right off me sweetheart," he grinned at her.

"Well they didn't at our wedding," she reminded him sourly.

"That's true," conceded EJ ruefully, "But I didn't know you loved me back then."

"You always knew I loved you," Sami told him quietly, "Even before I did."

She kissed him again and gave him a resolute look before standing up, she went to move away but he held onto her hand and she looked back at him and he reluctantly let her hand slide through his fingers.

"Five minutes," he reminded her, holding up five fingers to re-enforce his point.

Sami smiled and nodded before looking back at the house and beginning to practice her defeated, despairing face for Lucas' benefit as she walked back the way she came. EJ watched her go and prayed he hadn't made a huge mistake.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter TWENTY-THREE**

EJ lasted only one and a half minutes after seeing Sami disappear inside the house and could stand it no longer. Not caring in the least that he was breaking his word to her as he crept up to the house, his concern for her welfare overriding every other consideration. He went round to the back of the house, moving towards the back door when he suddenly heard Sami and Lucas' voices and froze, just to one side of the kitchen window.

"Where are you going?"

"I told you Lucas, I want to take Ali for a walk with me outside."

EJ listened to the two of them talking, feeling himself tense at the sound of the other man's voice.

"I'll come with you," he offered.

"Lucas we can't go anywhere," said Sami in annoyance, playing the helpless captive just right, "You've got the car keys and it's not like I'm going to take Ali and swim to freedom now is it?"

"I just thought we could spend some time together as a family," EJ heard him say, his voice suddenly close and he realised that they must both be in the kitchen now and Lucas sounded like he was just in front of the window.

"Well I don't want to spend anytime with you right now," said Sami sharply.

"Sami," sighed Lucas and there was obvious regret in his voice and EJ's jaw hardened at the thought of what that might be for, "I'm sorry about before. I lost my temper, it shouldn't have happened and…"

"I don't want to talk about it!" snapped Sami and EJ could hear she was close now as well, "And especially not in front of Ali."

Ali made a little gurgling noise at the sound of her name and EJ's heart lurch painfully in his chest at being able to hear her again, even if he couldn't see her.

"I didn't mean to hurt you Sami," said Lucas, ignoring her request, "I just lost control for a minute, it won't happen again, I promise."

"Your word doesn't mean a whole lot to me right about now Lucas," said Sami bitterly.

"We can get past this, all of this, I know we can Sami," EJ heard him plead with her, "I love you and…"

"You love me?" she repeated harshly, not wanting to do this in front of her daughter but not being able to help herself, "You held me down on that bed and said and did those things to me and then you tell me you love me? You're sick Lucas!"

EJ closed his eyes against the pain of hearing her confirm his worst fears and struggled to remain in control against the violent urges welling up inside him.

"I do love you Sami," said Lucas urgently, "You're all I think about. I love you so much, want you so much and I…"

"Don't touch me Lucas!"

Her words caused the last of EJ's control to snap, unable to endure the thought of Samantha being subjected to Lucas a second longer. He couldn't think, couldn't reason, all he knew was that he wanted to kill Lucas and no power on earth was going to stop him. He burst threw the kitchen door catching everyone there completely unawares. He didn't even break stride as he stalked in and grabbed Lucas, pulling him away from Sami and Ali and throwing him across the room.

"Get Ali out of here!" he barked at Sami, knowing he was probably frightening them and hating that but he and Lucas had some unfinished business to take care of and Lucas was never going to be a danger to EJ's family again after today.

Sami made a kind of horrified noise, covering her daughters face almost frozen to the spot. The whole time EJ had kept his eyes on Lucas, even now as he clambered to his feet from the corner in which EJ had thrown him but he looked at Sami briefly to plead with her.

"Get out of here Samantha, take Ali and run," he ordered her, not quite as harshly this time but just as definitely, "John is nearby, head to the river and call out. Go now!"

Sami backed up towards the door that led from the kitchen into the rest of the house, knowing that would be her best route of escape because the two men were now blocking the back door. She looked uncertainly at EJ, not wanting to leave him but there was Ali to consider.

"Go Samantha!" said EJ even as Lucas made a snarling noise and ran at him, knocking him to the ground.

Sami turned on her heel and ran then, clutching Ali tightly to her. EJ breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her leave, able to focus his attention fully now on the situation at hand… beating Lucas to a bloody pulp. He pushed the other man off him and they both scrambled to their feet.

"This is going to feel so good," growled Lucas, his fists clenched, ready to throw the first punch but he was too slow.

EJ's right fist connected with his jaw with all of the force of his hatred for the other man and Lucas' head snapped back and he staggered backwards, almost falling over but grabbing the edge of the table to steady himself. EJ didn't even feel the ache in his hand from landing such a powerful punch, instead just enjoying the look of shocked pain on Lucas' face. It was the first time he'd ever so much as raised a hand to the man and it was long overdue.

Lucas recovered quickly and EJ was glad, he didn't want this to be over that fast, he had a lot more anger and frustration to take out on Lucas before he was done. Lucas struck out at him but EJ moved so that the blow only grazed his jaw a little, doing no real damage other then causing a little trickle of blood out of the corner of this mouth whilst his punch had split Lucas' lip and it was bleeding profusely. A jab to the face added a cut above Lucas' eye and there was a grim satisfaction at watching the man bleed. And then the two men began to fight in earnest.

Sami stood outside the front door, hearing the banging and crashing coming from the kitchen and couldn't stand it. There was no way she was going to leave EJ and she looked down uncertainly at Ali. She was looking stressed, obviously upset by all the commotion and shouting and Sami hugged her to him.

"It's alright sweetie," she soothed her, "Mommy is here, don't worry."

Another particularly loud crashing sound made up Sami's mind and she hurried into Ali's room putting her in her cot and quickly kissing her.

"Mommy is going to be right back with Daddy sweetie," she reassured her daughter, "Be a good girl, I'll be back soon, don't worry."

EJ and Lucas by this stage had broken just about everything that could be broken in the kitchen and the loud cracking sound Sami had heard was EJ slamming the smaller man down onto the kitchen table and it giving way under him from the force and their combined weight. They lay amongst the broken bits of wood, still struggling violently.

Both were bloodied and bruised by this stage but neither were backing down. Two years of hatred and jealousy giving them both the strength to fight on but it was becoming increasingly obvious that EJ was going to win, his greater size and reach just no match for Lucas no matter how hard he fought. EJ rolled them over so he was on top, straddling him and wrapping his fingers around Lucas' throat and squeezing, feeling a sense of intense satisfaction as Lucas began to struggle to breath. EJ leant over him then, putting his face so close to his that they were practically nose to nose. Lucas was still struggling but he was getting weaker.

"I could kill you now," EJ hissed, his breathing uneven from all his exertions but there was no doubting his seriousness, "I could squeeze my hand and take your life and I'd be smiling while I did it Lucas Horton!"

Lucas' eyes spat hatred at him but he couldn't speak, EJ's grip on his throat was too tight and he was beginning to go red in the face.

"You tried to kill me twice," growled EJ, feeling the blood and sweat sting his eyes but he didn't care, "Some would say I was more than justified to do this. But I don't even care about that - I understand it even, what a man will do for love. You probably don't believe me but I don't even hold any ill will against you for it."

He could see the confusion in Lucas' eyes and gave a humourless smile, leaning right down so that his lips were by the other man's ear he whispered the truth to him.

"Do you want to know what your real crime is Lucas, do you?" asked EJ roughly but didn't wait for a reply, "Samantha. You let her think she was second choice the whole time you were together. You made her grovel for your forgiveness over and over like you were something special to be earned when you're nothing but a piece of sanctimonious garbage. You've hurt and abused Samantha for the last time Lucas."

Lucas was making some choked noises and EJ relaxed his grip, giving him a hard look.

"Something to say?" he taunted him.

"You bastard!" croaked Lucas, "You… you say those things to me when it was you who raped her you son of a bitch! Like you're some hero!"

Lucas grabbed at EJ's wrist trying to get him to let him go but EJ wouldn't budge, leaving his hand exactly where it was but letting the little man have his say.

"I never hurt a hair on her head," said EJ angrily, thinking of Sami's wrists.

"And that makes it alright?!" scoffed Lucas fiercely.

"Nothing will ever make what I did alright!" EJ barked at him, his own remorse and pain about that night rushing through him like it always did at the memory, "But Samantha forgave me and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making sure she never regrets that decision! Our lives would be so much simpler without you in it Lucas…"

EJ tightened his grip on Lucas' throat again, his face hard and unflinching as he contemplated ending this man life, removing the thorn from his flesh that had plagued him for so long now. Lucas began to feel himself losing consciousness, everything going starting to go grey now. He was almost unconscious when Lucas felt the pressure on his neck lessen and he sucked in great painful lung fulls of air now that he was allowed. He blinked blearily up at EJ to find the other man looking at him quite detachedly as he struggled back to life.

"I want you to remember this moment Lucas," said EJ coldly, "You're alive because I granted you the mercy you never showed me."

Lucas looked up at him, still panting wildly, feeling like a mouse being toyed with by a self satisfied cat.

"I'm sparing your life not because you deserve anything from me," said EJ his dark eyes unflinching, "I'm sparing your life because of Ali and Will. You're their father, heaven help them both and I don't want them burying their father - no matter how worthless he is. Those children saved your life today, you remember that Lucas Horton."

Lucas looked up at EJ, hating him more than he thought humanly possible in that moment. EJ was moving a little to get off him, obviously thinking he was down and out for the count now but he had underestimated just how much drive a thing like hatred gave a person. As EJ took his attention off him for a split second Lucas' hand found a piece of the broken table, a leg in fact and he brought it down with surprising strength across the side of EJ's face. He groaned and fell to one side, enabling Lucas to escape from under his weight and he scrambled to his feet, taking advantage of EJ's disorientation and grabbing at a nearby kitchen knife.

EJ rolled over onto his back and sat up groggily, holding onto the side of his face and looked up at Lucas brandishing a large knife at him.

"Well you never repeat yourself I'll give you that," grimaced EJ, pulling away his hand from his face and seeing the blood on it before looking back at him, "First a bullet then a car and now a knife - you're quite the artisan when it comes to finding different ways to me aren't you Lucas?"

"Shut up!" he snarled at him, "Just shut up, I'm so sick of the sound of your voice. You've always got some smart comment, always mouthing off in things that are none of your business!"

"I hope you're not including Samantha in that statement," he commented dryly, "Because she is most definitely my business - always was in fact, even during that farce you were pleased to call a marriage."

That was it for Lucas, he was done with all this back and forth and he was done with EJ DiMera.

He raised the knife, starting to move towards EJ menacingly as the other man was attempting to stand up, still a bit dazed from the vicious blow to the head. Just then the kitchen door was flung open and to both men's amazement Sami suddenly launched herself through it and threw herself onto Lucas' back.

"Samantha!"

"Sami!"

They both cried out her name in shocked surprise. EJ felt his heart begin to really race now as he watched Lucas spinning around wildly trying to dislodge Sami from his back. He was galvanised into action, terrified that she was going to get hurt.

"Samantha NO!" he cried, trying to get to her but stay out of the way of the knife that wildly waving about.

"You stay away from him!" she was shouting at Lucas, clinging on for dear life, "Don't you touch him!"

Sami hadn't exactly had a plan when she'd put her daughter in her cot and made her way back to the kitchen to help EJ. She figured she'd just wing it but when she opened the door and saw Lucas standing over EJ with a knife she just reacted and flung herself on Lucas' back. It probably wasn't the best plan she'd ever come up with because she was getting increasingly dizzy as he spun around and it was getting harder and harder to hold onto him but she wasn't giving up.

"You bastard!" she screamed and bit the closest thing available to her which happened to be his ear.

Lucas howled and staggered backwards, out through the door she'd just come through before spinning around and slamming her up against the wall hard, trying to dislodge her once and for all. Sami's breath left her in a rush as all the air was forced out of her lungs at once and she finally let go, sliding down the wall. EJ had followed them out and saw Lucas back up against the wall with Sami on his back and her crying out and falling to the ground. He went to rush at Lucas, enraged but Lucas forestalled him, putting the knife to Sami's throat as she sat there against the wall stunned.

"Don't!" he warned EJ, a wild look in his eye, "I'll do it! Stay there!"

Sami looked up in shock as she realised that Lucas was actually threatening her with a knife, hardly able to believe that things had gotten this badly out of control.

"Up!" ordered Lucas to Sami and she complied, her eyes on the knife tip that was just in front of her throat the whole time, "And you…!"

Lucas nodded at EJ.

"Over there!" he told him.

EJ moved slowly, putting his hands up in a calming fashion.

"Alright Lucas," said EJ evenly, "Let's everyone just take a breath here eh? Emotions are running high and we all just need to…"

"Shut up!" yelled Lucas, "Shut up! No more talking!"

"Lucas," said Sami shakily.

"No Sami!" he said harshly, his free hand going to the bloody mess that used to be his left ear and coming away covered in blood, "No more '_Lucas_'! This is it do you hear me?!"

EJ and Sami exchanged worried looks, Lucas clearly having been tipped over the edge that he'd been teetering on for a while now. EJ was trying to edge his body in front of Sami's, protecting her but Lucas saw the movement and jabbed the knife closer to Sami's throat. She gave a startled gasp and EJ froze.

"Both of you," he snarled, "You want to be together so bad then fine! So be it! Wish granted."

Lucas reached behind him to a closet door and opened it.

"Inside!" he ordered them, "Both of you!"

"Lucas…" said Sami worriedly, "What…"

"NOW!" he yelled and the action made the knife move a little and the tip scrapped Sami's skin ever so slightly and a thin trickle of blood was the result.

"NO!" said EJ in horror, his heart in his mouth, "Samantha!"

"In!" said Lucas coldly, "Now Sami!"

Sami moved gingerly around him, still at knife point, towards the closet.

"You first," he ordered EJ and EJ had no choice but to comply.

Once he was inside Lucas backed Sami up towards the closet too, the knife still at her throat.

"It didn't have to be like this Sami," he told her achingly, shaking his head at her, "We could have been a family, the three of us but you let him ruin it and now that can never happen."

"We can talk about this Lucas," she said unevenly, trying to calm him down, "If we could just talk…"

"No more talk Sami," he said sadly, "You've made your choice. You chose EJ over your daughter and me… that's all there is to say."

"Lucas," said EJ urgently, realising what he was intending, "Don't involve Ali in this please. She's just a baby and…"

"She's _my_ baby!" said Lucas harshly, "And you don't get a say in anything about her life ever again EJ!"

With that Lucas reached out a hand and pushed on Sami's chest causing her to stumble backwards into the closet where EJ caught her. With EJ's hands being full for the moment Lucas took his opportunity and slammed the door shut and locked it from the outside.

"Lucas!" he heard EJ calling out and then the banging started, "Lucas! Stop this! Let us out now!"

Lucas backed away from the door slowly, the blood still pounding in his veins after the all the fighting. Everything had gone so wrong so quickly and he needed to think. The sound of Ali starting to cry suddenly brought everything into sharp relief for him and he knew what he had to do. He ran over to his daughter's room and picked up the sobbing child. She looked up at him wide eyed and scared and he realised he must look frightening with his bloody and bruised face but he didn't have time to do anything about that right now.

"Come on sweetie," he told her, jiggling her up and down and trying to calm her down which only made her cry harder. "Daddy and his best girl are going on a big adventure together, just the two of us."

Amazingly the car keys were still in his pocket and Lucas wasted no time in heading for the car to get them both out of there.

Meanwhile Sami could hear her daughter's cries getting fainter and she began to panic.

"He's taking Ali!" she cried, "Do something EJ!"

"Step back," he told her determinedly, moving her behind him so he had some room.

The space was cramped but he didn't need much room for what he intended. EJ drew himself back and threw all of his weight against the door, it moved and groaned but remained stubbornly intact.

"EJ!" said Sami, her voice raising in real fear now.

EJ grit his teeth and repeated the action, the door surprisingly sturdy for it's size. On the fifth contact with his shoulder it gave way finally, the hinge snapping off the wall completely. The two of them raced down the hall towards the front door, the sound of a car engine starting filling them both with dread.

This couldn't be happening - they couldn't have gotten this close only to lose Ali at the last minute - fate couldn't be that cruel.

Sami and EJ bolted out the front door just in time to see Lucas reversing the four wheel drive, the wheels spinning wildly as he passed them. Sami could see Ali strapped into her baby seat and felt the terror well up inside of her.

"Ali," said EJ grimly.

"No!" Sami cried out in terror, "Ali! EJ do something!"

Lucas threw the car in first and pressed his foot all the way down on the gas, adrenaline making his actions too big. The car lurched forward forcefully, the wheels spinning again before finding some traction and moving forward past EJ and Sami again at great speed. But Lucas wasn't used to driving such a big car and he misjudged the handling on it, the wheels sliding on the dirt track, loose gravel spraying everywhere. The car started to fish tail as he increasingly lost control of the powerful vehicle and both Sami and EJ watched in abject horror as the car suddenly spun out of control, clipping a tree stump and flipping over. The car skidded on it's roof for about fifty feet before slamming hard into another tree, the force causing the tree to shudder and then almost split in two.

"NO!" screamed Sami, her hands going to her mouth, "NOOO!"

EJ was already running towards the wreck as he heard Sami start screaming out Ali's name and he prayed like he'd never done before in his life.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter TWENTY-FOUR**

EJ reached the car while the upturned wheels were still spinning, throwing himself on his stomach and looking in the back window of the overturned cruiser.

"Ali!" he called out frantically, "Sweetheart!"

There was a heart wrenching silence for a split second in which EJ died a thousands death and then the most beautiful sound in the world came to him as Ali let out a shocked wail and began to cry loudly. EJ almost joined her from the relief. He tilted his head so Ali could see his face properly as she hung there, upside down and still strapped into her car seat. She looked at him wide eyed, her blue eyes spilling out tears as she sobbed from the fright she'd been given.

"EJ! Is she alright?"

Sami had reached them now, not being as fast as EJ, she put her hands on EJ's back and peered anxiously over his shoulder.

"She's crying," he said grimly, "That's a good sign – it's bad when they stop."

Sami didn't know if that was true or not but the sound of her daughter's growingly hysterical screams were killing her.

"I can't open the door," said EJ, pulling back and taking in the crumpled frame, he stood up, "I'm going to go in through the other window – here, talk to her."

Sami took EJ's place at the window and tilted her head just as he did, putting her face close to the glass so Ali could see her.

"It's alright honey," she tried to sooth her, Ali's little face red now from all her cries and being upside down, "It's alright sweetie Mommy's here."

EJ meanwhile had run around to the other side of the back seat to find the window partially shattered so EJ tore off his coat and wrapped it around his hand and broke the rest of the glass being very careful not to send any glass over towards Ali. As soon as he cleared it he crawled in through the window on his stomach making his way towards Ali.

"Daddy's coming sweetie," Sami she reassured her daughter, her hand to the window that separated them, "Don't cry Ali."

EJ was there now and reached out a shaking hand to her, touching her to let her know he was there.

"Hey sweetheart," he said softly, keeping his voice calm and reassuring, "I'm here darling, Daddy's got you."

Ali looked at him from where she still hung upside down and held out her arms to him and EJ's heart nearly broke in his chest at the trusting little gesture. All he wanted to do was to get her out of there and hold her in his arms again. His hands went to the clips at the front of the baby seat.

"Don't undo her!"

The sound of John's voice surprised them all and EJ looked back over his shoulder to see John crouching down beside the window he'd just crawled through. Sami looked at him in shock as well, all of her attention had been focused on Ali and she hadn't even seen the other man arrive. He must have decided EJ had been gone too long and come looking for him.

"The capsule is stabilizing her," said John, his voice ever calm, "Undo the whole thing nephew, just in case."

EJ's heart lurched as he realized John was right and cursed himself for his carelessness. All he'd wanted to do was get Ali out of the car and he hadn't even thought it through. His hand went to the back of the seat and found where the restraints all clipped in and began to undo them which was a bit tricky because he couldn't actually see what he was doing but he'd enough practice of pulling baby seats in and out of cars since the twins had arrived that he could pretty much do it with his eyes close. He'd never complain when Sami asked him to move a baby seat from car to car ever again. All the while both he and Sami were talking to Ali, trying to calm her down.

"It will be easier if you pass her out to me from the other side," John told him, "That way you don't have to drag her any kind of distance. Wait."

He got up then and hurried round to Sami's side of the car and put a hand on her shoulder, silently asking her to let him by. Sami gave a last anxious look at Ali but complied. EJ meanwhile had tried to manoeuvre himself so he was in a position to punch out the glass of the window on Ali's side but found he couldn't quite do it with having to hold Ali steady in her car seat and the odd angle he was on.

"I'll do it," John told him, seeing his difficulty.

EJ quickly unwrapped his coat from his arm and put it over Ali and put his own head in there with her. She was still crying but when EJ put his face close to hers to protect them both with his jacket her little hands grabbed at his face, trying to hold on to him. EJ put his cheek against hers, his face nearest the window just in case and kissed her soft little cheek soothingly.

"It's alright honey bunny," he told her softly, "Nearly got you out, just a few more seconds."

The sound of glass breaking told EJ that John had done it and he carefully took the coat away in case some loose glass flicked up. There was one more clip to release at the back of the baby seat and EJ undid it, gently lowering the capsule with its precious cargo down before John's hands appeared through the window and lifted her out through the window. As soon as Ali was turned right way up her cries started to lessen, just making hiccupping little sobs now.

"Ali!" cried Sami in relief, kneeling down beside her daughter as John gently placed her and the baby seat on the ground.

Sami leaned in and rained kisses down on her daughters little tear stained face, her own face just as tear streaked. She moved in as close as she could to her, letting her know that she was there, whispering words of comfort to her. EJ meanwhile had just crawled out of the car and joined Sami, putting his an arm around Sami and then around Ali's car seat, encompassing them both as he hugged his family at long last. EJ looked up at his uncle suddenly.

"We need to…" he started urgently but John interrupted him.

"I've already called for medi chopper to come and get us," John told him and EJ wondered when he'd managed that but it really didn't matter, "So…"

John arched an eyebrow at EJ and he looked back in confusion at the implied question.

"What about the convict?" John clarified and jerked his head back at the wreck, "We leaving him there to die or what?"

John made the 'leaving him to die' sound like a very real option and for a split second EJ contemplated it, somehow knowing that his uncle probably had already figured out at least ten ways to get rid of the body by now.

"Lot of alligators in this swamp," John informed him knowingly as though he could read his mind, "No one would ever have to hear the name Lucas Roberts again."

EJ looked down at his traumatized little family huddled together and then back at John, his expression hard. Lucas chose that exact moment to regain consciousness and let out a groan, still strapped into the car with his own seat belt and like Ali had been, hanging upside down.

"I still have three straws left;" John said expressionlessly, "I only need one."

EJ looked up at his uncle, still crouched down beside Sami and Ali and looked into his implacable face.

_God but he loved this man._

**oooOOOOooo**

"What's taking so long?" worried Sami, unable to sit still any longer, getting up and starting to pace.

"They'll come and talk to us as soon as they have something to tell us sweetheart," EJ tried to sooth her reaching out a hand and catching hers as she went past, "Hey."

EJ stood up and pulled her into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"It will be alright," he whispered to her.

"How do you know?" she nearly wailed the question, her fears for Ali nearly overwhelming her.

EJ pulled back a little and bent over, putting his face directly in line with hers.

"I know because Alice Caroline is Samantha Jean's daughter," said with great certainty, holding her teary gaze, "They have an indomitable spirit that won't be broken. Both of my girls are fighters."

Sami gave a watery smile, feeling better despite her continuing worry.

"Promise me," she said helplessly, "Promise me she'll be alright."

"On my life Samantha," he said truthfully, "I believe with all of my heart that she is going to be alright."

Sami made a little choked cry at the absolute certainty in his voice and let herself be reassured by it. She hugged him and he returned it, holding onto her tightly.

"Come and sit down," said EJ, "You're exhausted."

Sami nodded against his chest and let him guide her to the bench they'd both just been sitting on in the waiting room of the Kindred Hospital right in the centre of New Orleans. It was a bit of a blur actually after they'd gotten Ali out of the car. The medi-vac chopper had arrived about fifteen minutes later, landing nearby in a clearing and by that time EJ and John had gotten Lucas out of the car. In a decision that EJ hoped he wasn't going to regret later he'd opted not to accept John's offer of doing away with the other man once and for all and both he and Ali had been taken to Kindred Hospital in the centre of New Orleans.

Lucas had been pretty banged up and EJ suspected his arm was broken and probably some ribs but couldn't say he cared. He wished nothing but pain and suffering on the man who had put his own child in this kind of danger through his selfish acts. He was being treated in a nearby emergency room cubicle but neither he or Sami had bothered to check how he was going. John had also managed to somehow find time to notify the police of all the events and they met the helicopter at the hospital and Lucas had been under police guard ever since.

"Samantha," said EJ quietly, "While we're waiting will you please let a doctor check you out? Please sweetheart."

"I'm alright," she said with a shake of her head, still leaning into him as they sat there, with his arms around her on the bench and waited.

"It would make me feel so much better if you would," he persisted gently, "You've been through so much darling, I just want to make sure you're alright."

"You should take some of your own advice nephew," said John, strolling back into the waiting room from where ever he'd wandered off to, "You're not exactly the picture of health yourself at the moment."

John raised an eyebrow at him, taking in his blood stained clothes, some that was his, some that was Lucas and the cut above his eye and bloody lip.

"I'm fine," he dismissed the concern easily.

"Two of a kind," stated John with a shrug.

"Mr and Mrs DiMera?"

They all turned at the sound of the voice to see a young doctor standing there with a calm smile on his face.

"Yes," said Sami quickly, standing up and EJ was right behind her, "That's us."

"I'm Dr LeGrande," he introduced himself, "I've just examined your daughter Alice."

"How is she?" asked Sami anxiously, "Is she alright?"

"Alice has only a few scrapes and bruises externally," began the doctor, "She was very fortunate that the car seat stop her from being thrown through a window with the force of the impact."

"You said externally," frowned EJ, "Is there some other problem, an internal one."

"We examined your daughter and found her abdomen to be rigid and distended," said the doctor evenly, "A scan has revealed that there is some blood in her abdomen."

"Oh god," whimpered Sami.

"From?" prompted EJ, listening intently.

"We did a CT scan and found that she has a tiny little tear in her spleen," explained Dr LeGrande, "And it's bleeding into her abdomen."

"Wh… what will happen to her?" asked Sami, wide eyed, "Can you stop it from bleeding? Is she going to bleed to death? What?!"

"It's alright sweetheart," EJ tried to calm her, putting his hands on her arms as he stood behind her, "Just let the doctor speak."

"With your permission we're going to do some keyhole surgery and check the size of the tear and remove some of that blood," he said.

"And if you can't repair it?" asked EJ grimly.

"Then we will have to remove the spleen," he said and then forestalled Sami's next question, "A person can live quite well without a spleen but I'm hoping it won't come to that. My feeling is that it isn't a very big tear and that it will manage to repair itself but I do need to check. So do I have permission to do the exploratory surgery?"

"Yes of course," said EJ when he saw Sami was too dazed to answer, "We'll sign whatever we have to."

"Good," he said, "We'll take her in right now after we run some more tests on her. As soon as the tests are done you will be able to see her before she goes into surgery."

"Thank you doctor," said EJ dully.

The doctor gave them a nod and left again. Sami sank back down on the bench, beginning to shake and EJ sat beside her, pulling her into his arms.

"Ali has to have surgery," she said weakly and then began to cry, "Oh EJ, my baby!"

"It will be alright," EJ tried to reassure her, rocking her gently, "The doctor sounded confident, we just to have faith Samantha."

Sami dissolved in tears, finding that in short supply all of a sudden. John watched his step daughter sobbing for a moment and then turned on his heel, disappearing back down the corridor. EJ finally managed to get her to calm down and they were just sitting there in an emotionally drained silence when John returned.

"Here," he said, holding out his cell phone to her.

Sami gave a little frown and shook her head at him.

"Here," John said again and Sami realised that the screen of his cell was lit up.

She took it with shaking hands and looked at it, EJ looking over her shoulder.

"Hi Sami," said Lexie from the little screen and smiled at her, "I've got someone who wants to say hello to their mommy."

Lexie moved the cell phone she was holding out in front of her to one side and suddenly Johnny's little face filled the screen.

"Johnny!" exclaimed Sami and gave a strangled sob of joy at seeing her son after more than a week apart, "Johnny baby it's Mommy!"

Johnny's eyes lit up at the sound of Sami's voice and he looked round, trying to see where she was.

"Ma ma ma," he gurgled, jumping up and down excitedly in his aunt's arms, jostling the phone a little.

"Oh Johnny," said Sami, tears of joy running down her face, "I've missed you so much sweetie!"

Sami held the screen up close to her face, trying to see her son in as much detail as she could and couldn't believe how happy and perfect he looked. EJ reached out a hand and put it on his uncle's arm and squeezed, giving him a quiet look of gratitude for his kind act. John just nodded in his usual stoic way. Sami and EJ talked to Johnny and then to Lexie, filling her in on the details with Ali. She tried to reassure them about Ali and amazingly after they hung up from her both of them did feel better about the whole thing, Lexie certainly had that calming doctor thing down pat.

"Thank you John," said Sami very sincerely, touched by his gesture, "That was really thoughtful of you, thank you."

"See," he said looking a little self satisfied, "I don't need a straw to be helpful."

"What?" asked Sami, looking at EJ in confusion.

"Trust me sweetheart," he said firmly, "Don't ask."

**oooOOOOooo**

_There was a long silence and then EJ finally recovered the power of speech._

"_I'm sorry but can you just repeat what you said for me again please?" he asked of the man in the white coat._

Just over an hour ago the doctor had returned to say that they'd intended to cross match some blood for Ali's operation in case she needed a transfusion if the blood loss was greater than they'd first suspected. When they'd begun the initial typing of the blood they'd discovered she'd had an antibody which wasn't that uncommon but it meant that it was unlikely that the units of blood they had in stock wouldn't be a match for Ali. The doctor had then asked for her parents to have their blood tested to check if they had an exact match for the antibody so that they might be able to give a donation of blood in case Ali needed it. Both Sami and Lucas had agreed but that was when the problems had started.

The doctor and a man who had introduced himself as a lab technician had asked to speak to them all privately. As Lucas was chained to a hospital bed they'd all had to go his room. Lucas was sitting up in bed, his wounds, some from EJ, some from the car accident, having been cleaned up by now. One arm was in a cast and the other one was handcuffed to the bed rails.

"So what's the problem?" frowned Lucas worriedly, looking between the two men in white coats, "Is their something wrong with my daughter?"

"If there is it's your fault Lucas," said Sami bitterly, her anger at Lucas for what he'd done still burning brightly.

"Samantha," EJ soothed her, "Another time sweetheart. Please, you were saying, there's a problem? What kind of problem?"

"This is a little awkward," said the technician who'd introduced himself as Roy, "Are you sure you don't want a little more privacy?"

He looked around at all the people in the room. There was Dr LeGrande and himself, EJ and Sami, Lucas chained to the bed, the police officer who was guarding Lucas and John who'd just invited himself in. It was pretty much a full house.

"What is wrong with Ali?!" snapped Sami, not caring who was there as long as he got on with it.

"Nothing per se," said Roy, "Only…"

"What?!" Sami practically yelled, her nerves stretched tight by this stage.

"Speed it up pepe," John advised him, "You don't want to get on the wrong side of the wild cat. This guy did…"

John nodded at Lucas then before continuing.

"…back when his ears used to match," John finished evenly, alluding to the fact that Sami had actually managed to bit a piece of Lucas' ear clean off during their skirmish, "And now look at him."

John was quietly impressed by that fact.

"Can we stay on topic please?" asked EJ, his own frustration level starting to rise now.

"As you know we asked for blood from both of Alice's parents," began Roy a little hesitantly, "We tested the blood and well…"

He trailed off then and looked awkward and Sami's face darkened with annoyance at how long this man was taking to get to the point.

"You'll need to go faster than this Roy," John warned him straight faced, pointing to his ear and tilting his head at Sami, "The wild cats about two seconds away from going Mike Tyson on your ass."

"Alice is A positive and both of you are O positive," finished Roy in a rush, taking John's threats seriously.

"So?" shrugged Lucas in confusion, "Both of my parents are A's and I'm an O - what's the big deal here?"

"Well two A's can have an O but two O's can't have an A," explained the technician and then starting to warm to the subject, "Just like two B's can have an O or an AB and an O can have either an A or a B but not an O… or an AB. Also two O's can't have a B either…"

"How about two wrongs?" asked John expressionlessly, "Can they make a right?"

"Uncle John!" said EJ in frustration, "You're not helping!"

"So what are you telling us exactly?" asked Sami, really confused now with all of the talks of A's and O's and what not.

"Assuming that you are definitely the mother of Alice…" began Roy but Sami interrupted him.

"Of course I'm her mother!" exclaimed Sami, incensed that he should suggest otherwise, "I remember her and her brother coming out of my body _very_ distinctly as a matter of fact!"

"Of course…" said Roy and he looked a little uncomfortable then, "This is kind of the awkward part… I'm not sure really how to put this delicately so I'll just say it. Is there any chance that Mr Horton may not be the father of Alice after all because, as it turns out, it isn't really physically possible?"

There was a long silence and then EJ finally recovered the power of speech.

"I'm sorry but can you just repeat what you said for me again please?" he asked of the man in the white coat.

"I'm saying that at least one of Alice's parent has to be an A or an AB blood type for her to be an A seeing as her mother is an O," explained Roy almost apologetically, "And Mr Horton here is an O so he can't be the father."

There was another long silence, Sami looking back and forth between Lucas and EJ completely stunned.

"I'm A Positive," said EJ calmly, breaking the silence, "I'm Ali's father."

It felt _so_ good to say those words out loud and not have to preface it any longer with explanations of not being her biological father but seeing her as his child anyway. He finally had confirmation of what he'd always known in his heart to be true. From the first moment he'd found out that Samantha was pregnant, he'd _known_ that the babies she was carrying were his. He felt Sami take his hand and look up at with such emotion and he squeezed her hand tightly.

"She's mine," he said huskily, his voice tight with emotion as he held Sami's gaze lovingly, "She's mine."

"Wow," said John, obviously enjoying all the drama and looking over at Lucas who had a shell shocked look on his face, "Sucks to be you today huh?"


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter TWENTY-FIVE**

EJ came partially awake, reaching out with a groggy hand to feel for the warmth of his wife's body lying beside him but instead only encountered cold sheets. He came instantly awake then, his eyes snapping open as he sat up and looked around their darkened bedroom. He jumped out of bed, quickly checking the bathroom only to find she wasn't there either. EJ practically ran now from their bedroom across the hall to the twins room and the first thing he saw when he got there was Sami leaning over Ali's cot and tucking her in. He slumped against the door frame with the relief of seeing his family safe and sound.

"Hey," she said softly, looking up to see him standing there.

"Is she alright?" he asked worriedly, straightening up and walking into the room, keeping his voice low as well.

"She's fine honey," Sami reassured him with a little smile, "She just gave a little squawk when she kicked her blankets off. She didn't even wake up really."

"I'm sorry," said EJ with a frown, annoyed at himself, "I didn't even hear her."

"That's because you're exhausted," his wife chided him gently, "You haven't stopped since all of this started."

This was the third night that Ali had been home from the hospital and just over a week since she'd had her surgery. Her surgery had gone well and the doctor's didn't need to remove her spleen. She was recovering quickly much to the joy of her parents who were not quite so readily bouncing back, the trauma of the last couple of weeks taking their toll on both EJ and Sami. The day after her surgery Ali had been moved back to Salem hospital and she'd spent four days there and basically Sami and EJ had barely left her side.

There had been a steady stream of aunts, uncles, grandparents and well wishers visiting her the whole time but it was her brother that had elicited the most ecstatic response. The first time EJ had bought Johnny to see his twin again it had been so cute. Both squealed excitedly to see the other and launched into an animated chatter that only they understood, their own secret twin language. It had been so wonderful to see how happy they were to be together again that EJ was loathed to see them separated again. He used all of his considerable charm to sweet talk the nurse manager into letting he, Sami and Johnny all stay overnight with Ali in her room. It had been pretty disruptive to their routine but it was worth it to have his family together again in one room for the next three nights.

Every minute that wasn't spent at the hospital with Sami and the twins, EJ was trying to catch up on his workload from the office which he'd basically just let go when his family had gone missing. Even when they'd brought Ali home from the hospital and EJ had hoped that things would settle down a bit he'd found that he'd spent the first night lying awake and listening for any little noise his daughter might make throughout the night and missing the comfort of knowing that help was just down the corridor if something should go wrong with Ali. The second night hadn't been much better and tonight he'd just collapsed in a heap and was fast asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Sami saw the tired, worried look on EJ's face and felt her heart nearly burst with love for this man. She put her hand out to touch his chest and felt the still erratic hammering of his heartbeat under her palm and knew he'd gotten a fright to wake up and found her gone again. He had been unbelievable through this whole thing, not letting her worry, always having the right thing to say at the right time. He'd been her rock and she wouldn't have known what to do without him but now Sami could see that he needed her. He'd been strong long enough for both of them. Ali was home and recovering so well that they actually had to stop her from racing around madly with her brother, Lucas was in prison where he couldn't hurt them anymore and they were altogether – it was time to relax a little and enjoy being a family again.

Sami went up on tip toes, spreading both her hands out over his chest as she did and whispered into his ear.

"Come to bed."

She sunk back down to the floor, tilting her head back to look at him and gave him a soft little smile, slipping her hand into his and taking a couple of steps backward out of the room, taking him with her. EJ gave a last quick look at the twins over his shoulder but then let Sami draw him out of the room and across the hall and back into their room. She walked them over to the bed and pushed on EJ's chest, making him sit on the end of the bed. Sami moved closer to EJ and he parted his legs so she could stand between them as he sat on their bed.

"So I'm wide awake," she said with a little sultry smile, "How about you?"

"Me too," agreed EJ with an answering smile, his hands going to her hips and beginning to massage them gently over the satin of her negligee.

"So what do you think we should do about that?" she asked him, coyly looking at him through her lashes.

"Well I've gotten quite good at cards recently," he said straight faced, "I could always turn my hand to dealing a few rounds if you like."

Sami gave him a knowing look and then moved closer to him, pressing herself more fully against him as she stood between his legs, moulding her softness against him.

"I've got a different use in mind for those hands of yours," she half purred, half growled up at him.

She grabbed at the material of his pyjama shirt, bunching it in her hand and pulling on it, making his head come dangerously close to hers. They stood there, her between his legs; him leant forward and regarding her with heavy lidded eyes. Their first kiss a promise between them both, each savouring the expectation of that initial touch. Sami slowly whet her lips and his dark eyes followed each tiny movement of her tongue, fixated. EJ felt his breath begin to roughen and his body start to throb in anticipation of touching this woman again. Sami's lips, now glistening ever so slightly from her own doing, quirked ever so slightly, feeling the growing tension in his body and the answering tightening in her core.

She felt one of his hands move from her hip to the tops of her thigh, sliding up determinedly under her short satin negligee until he was at her at her backside, slipping under the scrap of lace that served as her underwear and cupping one luscious bottom cheek. He squeezed his prize then and she smiled at the pleased look on his face. EJ lifted his free hand and traced the smile, his fingers gliding easily over her still moistened lips. Sami's tongue darted out and licked at his fingers. EJ rested his index finger against her lips and pressed for entrance which she granted, letting him slide the digit into her mouth where she sucked on it, stroking it with her tongue.

She held his gaze as rolled her tongue around his finger, watching the growing arousal on his face over such a simple act. She could feel his rapidly hardening erection against her stomach and her body reacted as it always did, feeling the fresh wetness flood out of her core, saturating her panties utterly. Still they hadn't kissed yet and EJ finally pulled his finger from her mouth, her sucking hard on it as he did until it had escaped it's moist prison with a little pop sound. He dragged the knuckle of that finger down her chin, then her long neck and then between the valley of her satin covered breasts. Her nipples hardened pleasingly for him, their puckered tightness standing out markedly against the clinging material.

It was EJ's turn to whet his lips now, giving in to their allure and attaching himself to one pert bud through the satin of the negligee. He lapped at the sensitive peak, alternatively suckling hard and then soft, nipping playful at it until it was almost painfully taut from what he was doing to it. The material around it became wet through from all of his ministrations, sticking to her body even more before he turned his attention to her other breast.

Sami's head lolled back at the feeling of his mouth on her breasts, revelling in his skill of being able to excite her so completely with such a minimal touch. She felt her centre begin to throb, a pleasing pulsating sensation beginning between her legs and she knew her body wanted to come. Sami bit her lip and buried her hands into his short dark hair, looking back down at him with hooded eyes now. EJ looked up at her through his lashes, still worshipping at her breasts and could feel that she was getting close despite him barely touching her yet.

He pulled at her panties, sliding them down her legs and she dutifully stepped out of them. EJ reluctantly relinquished his prize briefly so she could strip his tank top off him and he hastily discarded his pyjama bottoms before sitting back on the edge of the bed. He hooked a finger each under the straps of her night dress and pulled it from her shoulders, letting the delicate material slide off her body, pooling around her ankles. EJ surveyed his handiwork loving the way her pale skin was practically luminescent in the low light, glowing from the fire that was Samantha DiMera. She was a goddess naked and he'd never tire of looking at her, drinking in her loveliness.

Sami thrilled at the way he was looking at her, like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and couldn't take the slow pace any longer. She pressed on his chest, making him sit further back but still on the end of the bed. Using the extra space to her advantage Sami climbed on the bed, her knees either side of his thighs, straddling him but keeping herself above him. She looked down and saw how ready he was to possess her and bit her lip in anticipation. She put her arms around his neck, leaning down and intending to kiss him at last but he pulled back a little and gave her a teasing look.

EJ's hand moved to the apex of her thighs, rubbing the back of his hand against her folds and she made a pleased little sigh at the sensation. He turned his hand over, inserting two fingers into her which she obediently rode for a few minutes before needing more. EJ withdrew his hand and position her over his by now hugely engorged member. Sami sank down on him slowly feeling her walls have to distend an almost painful amount to accommodate his girth.

"Samantha," he said raggedly at the sensation of being taken inside her body again, her tight heat enveloping him inch by inch until he was completely consumed by her.

Sami gave an answering whimper feeling overwhelmed by both the emotion and sensations of the moment.

"Home," he whispered to her achingly and she nodded painfully.

"Home," she sighed back, so happy in that moment she couldn't bear it.

EJ lifted a hand to her lips, his fingers still wet from having been inside her and painted her lips with the juices of her own body. Sami quivered at the taste of herself on her lips before he could stand it no longer and captured her lips in the kiss they'd both been craving. The kiss was desperate and needy, almost too rough in it's intensity but neither cared. EJ licked the taste of her off her lips before plunging his tongue deeply into her mouth, letting her experience herself utterly, showing her the flavour that delighted him so. She moaned into the kiss, the sensation so erotic that she felt herself clench violently around him causing him to groan as well.

EJ's hand went to the back of Sami's head, holding her in place as he plunder her mouth. Even as they continued their fervent kiss Sami moved so that her legs were around his waist now causing him to penetrate her even more deeply, feeling the sensation deep in her womb. She began to rock against him, needing that friction to satisfy the ache in her core. EJ met her with increasingly powerful thrusts, the tension building between their bodies.

They held onto each other so tightly it was only the fact that their bodies were slick with sweat from their exertions that they were able to move over each other at all. How close they'd come to losing one another driving them to hold each other ever closer.

"Oh god!" gasped EJ, feeling himself tighten and swell one last time, preparing to empty himself into her, "Samantha, god Samantha!"

"EJ!" she moaned, her own body quickening it's pace in answer to the desperate need in his voice.

One final almost violent thrust saw him release his hot seed into her, sobbing as his orgasm ripped through him, wave after wave of fierce pleasure overwhelming him. The sound of his pleasure and the feeling of his final explosion within her tipped her over the edge and Sami screamed her own release for the world to hear. Finally spent they sat there together with him still embedded deep in her, both weak from the force of their combined orgasms, sweaty foreheads pressed together.

"Never leave me Samantha," he begged her achingly when he could finally speak again.

"Never," she promised him tenderly, pressing her forehead harder against his, "Never EJ."

**oooOOOOooo**

Sami lay on her side in the bed the next morning, head propped up with one hand as she rested on her elbow. She had a big smile on her face as she watched EJ and the twins together. They were all in bed together, the twins between them and EJ was playing 'Peekaboo' with them much to the twins absolute delight. EJ was lying on his side as well, pulling up the sheet over his face while Johnny and Ali watched with rapt attention.

"Peek… a…" EJ paused for effect and the twins trembled in anticipation of what would come next despite this being like the twentieth time in a row EJ had done this.

Would Daddy suddenly appear magically from behind the sheet? Was he even still there? Where was his voice coming from now that they couldn't see him? The waiting was unbearable, their little bodies rigid with excited expectation.

"BOO!" EJ dropped the sheet and the twins gave startled shrieks of excitement.

Daddy was there!

_Amazing_ - how did he keep doing that?! Ali and Johnny waved their fists around excitedly, looking back at Mommy to make sure she was seeing how clever their Daddy was and wanting to share it with her.

"I know!" she said, opening her eyes wide in amazement, "It's Daddy!"

"Da da da!" gabbled both of the twins breathlessly over the top of each other, having mastered Mama and Dada by now.

Sami and EJ laughed at their innocent pleasure which made the twins laugh even harder. EJ threw the sheet over Johnny and Ali now.

"Where is Johnny?" he teased, "Where is Ali? Peek… a…"

EJ pulled the sheet away in a flourish.

"BOO!" and the twins just erupted in hysterical laughter at this new trick which set EJ and Sami off again.

Sami watched as EJ continued to play this new game with the children as they seemed to be showing no signs of tiring of it yet.

"Okay," said EJ finally, "I can't not be cuddling you guys any longer, come here you little rascals!"

He threw out his arms to do a big bear hug of them both and the twins shrieked, laughing as they tried to get away from him, clambering over their mother to try and escape him. They often played this game where EJ would chase them and they loved it when he caught them and scooped them up and would cuddle them and kiss them all over.

"Group hug!" declared EJ, swooping down and wrapping one arm around Sami as she lay there and trapped the wriggling twins between Sami and himself.

He squeezed them to him, making sure it wasn't too tight for Ali's benefit as she was still on the mend, not that you could tell right then as she giggled up at him with flushed cheeks and bright eyes. Sami returned the hug and the twins had nowhere to go, chuckling away in amongst their squeals.

"Okay," said EJ, pretending to be puffed, "Time to settle down now, rest time."

EJ lay back on the pillows and blew out a big breath, closing his eyes and the twins immediately mimicked him, throwing themselves back against the pillows just as he had. EJ opened one eye to look at them sneakily and they giggled and quickly shut their eyes but then opened them again to see if EJ was still watching them. This went on for a little bit until they began to calm down a little.

"What?" smiled EJ when he saw how Sami was looking at him, "What's that look for sweetheart?"

"I'm just remembering something you said to me once," she told him, a soft smile on her face, "And something I have to tell you that is long overdue."

"And what's that my darling?" he asked with a curious frown, throwing a quick wink at the twins as they watched with interest mommy and daddy talking.

"That no part of me regrets loving you," she said quietly, holding his gaze steadily.

EJ swallowed hard, suddenly emotional as he remembered in vivid detail sitting on that sofa in Samantha's apartment a life time ago now and what he'd said.

"_I have this dream Samantha," he said, looking at her with great tenderness as he picked up her hand and put her fingers to his lips, h__is lips brushing against them as he continued to speak._

"_We'__re married and we__'__re lying in bed together, our child between us and you turn and look at me and tell me that there is no part of you that regrets loving me."_

"Thank you," he said huskily, unbelievably moved that she would remember such a thing and then grant him his wish.

"Thank you for becoming the kind of man that I can say that about and mean it absolutely," she told him earnestly.

EJ leaned over and kissed her gently then, only breaking away when the twins decided that they'd been ignored long enough and they started to press wet, sloppy kisses to Sami and EJ's face, joining in on the fun. The adults laughed at them which made Johnny and Ali very happy, having the full attention of both of their parents now.

Today was going to be a good day.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter TWENTY-SIX**

The next day was Saturday and Sami and EJ were organising the twins upstairs in their room.

"So do you really have to work on a Saturday?" she asked and gave a bit of an unhappy pout which of course meant he had to kiss her immediately.

"I do," he said, straightening up after he'd stolen his kiss and handing her a diaper for Johnny at the same time, "But it shouldn't take that long, I just need to go to the office for a quick meeting."

"It's not Nicole is it?" asked Sami regarding him with disapproval.

"No," smiled EJ, finding her jealousy amusing, "It's Emily – my _other_ bit on the side."

"Oh Emily," said Sami, her face brightening, "I have something for her."

Sami nodded with her head towards the desk drawer in the bedroom.

"Top drawer," she said, half way through changing Johnny's diaper which he wasn't making very easy, wriggling around, "I've been writing out thank you notes to everyone who visited Ali in the hospital with gifts. I've written one for Emily, can you give it to her when you see her and say how much we appreciated her thoughtfulness please."

Emily had visited them all in the hospital and bought with her a big bowl of the famous Brady Pub chowder for the adults and a little bottle of detergent with a loop for blowing bubbles with, to help amuse the hospital bound babies. Ali and Johnny had been absolutely fascinated by it and had spent many an hour over the next couple of days trying to con anyone they could into blowing the bubbles so they could catch them. The simple gift had been wonderfully diverting for the twins without getting Ali too worked up as she was recovering and Sami had been so grateful for the older woman's thoughtfulness.

"When have you found time to do this?" asked EJ in amazement, obediently retrieving the envelope and card from the drawer.

"I'm a good multi-tasker," said Sami with a grin.

"Apparently so," he agreed and returned her smile.

"So mister mister," she said looking down at Johnny who was pulling faces and grizzling as he had been all morning, "I think you didn't get enough sleep last night so I think you need to have a bit of a nap right now so you aren't quite so crusty for the rest of the day. What do you say?"

Johnny pouted, apparently not liking that idea and began to make a little whining sound, struggling a little in Sami's arms when she picked him up.

"Do you want me to settle him?" asked EJ, seeing he was not going to go down without a fight.

"No," she said confidently, "He's so tired it won't take that long."

As though to illustrate that point Johnny suddenly did an enormous yawn in between his unhappy gripping.

"You take Ali downstairs," said Sami, "I won't be long."

EJ looked over at Ali who was chatting away happily to herself, not sharing her brother's mood right then. She'd slept well the night before and was her usual happy self, at least until the afternoon 'drama queen' hours.

"Alright my princess," said EJ, sweeping her up in his arms, "Then let's you and I leave your mother and brother to it."

EJ walked out into the hallway, heading towards the stairs with Ali in his arms when he suddenly heard Marlena cry out.

"JOHN!"

Ali started in his arms and they both looked over at Marlena's bedroom door where John suddenly appeared in the doorway. He walked out, closing the door behind him and stood there. EJ looked at him expectantly, a curious look on his face.

"Second base," announced John and a little self satisfied smirk found its way onto his face before walking back towards his own bedroom.

EJ watched him go and then looked down at Ali who had turned from watching John to now look up at him with a quizzical look on her face.

"Alright little one," he said straight faced, "If you could just work on repressing that particular little memory then that is going to go a long way to lessening the amount of therapy that your Mummy and I are inevitably going to have to pay for you and your brother later on with growing up in this house."

Ali blinked her big blue eyes up at him and it seemed to EJ that she almost gave him a sympathetic look. EJ continued the rest of the way down the halls and down the stairs to take a seat in the living room, with Ali on his lap.

"Have I told you today how much I love you?" he asked of the little girl, smiling down at her tenderly as she got up to clamber all over him, "And how happy I am to be your Daddy?"

"Dada dada dada," she chattered back at him and he kissed her soft cheek lovingly, trying to imagine how life could get any better than this.

"She's chatty today," commented John, walking into the room and pouring himself a scotch.

"Mm," smiled EJ, "I think she's getting better everyday. It's such a miracle."

"You caught a break alright," agreed John, taking a sip of his drink.

"Uncle John," said EJ quietly, "I haven't had the chance to thank you, for all that you did these last couple of weeks and especially how great you were when we found Ali. It means a lot to Samantha and I to know that you were so willing to help us out the way you did. Thank you."

"I'm just glad it worked out alright," shrugged John, not seeming to quite know what to do with EJ's thanks.

"It certainly did," said EJ, smiling at his daughter, "I guess it's true what they say – every cloud has a silver lining."

"Yup," said John happily, sticking his hand in one pocket and taking another sip of his drink, "My house is full of people, eating my food and messing up my peace and quiet but I got to see Blondie naked today."

"Actually Uncle," said EJ in exasperation, not even wanting to know how he'd managed that particular feat especially when Marlena had sounded none too happy about it, "I was referring to Ali being hurt and finding out she was my biological child."

"Hm," John considered that for a moment, "Mine's better."

"How can you _even_ compare the two?" asked EJ in mild horror.

"How can _you_?" John turned the question around on him, "I mean, do you love Ali more now that you know she's your biological child?"

"Of course not," said EJ quickly, "I love her the same as I ever did, the same as her brother."

"And you no longer have to deal with the convict anymore so that isn't going to be an issue either way," continued on John.

"Well… no," conceded EJ, "But…"

"I got to see Blondie _naked_," repeated John emphatically, "Nothing has changed for you, meanwhile… I got to see boobs!"

EJ opened his mouth, feeling the need to argue the point but not sure that he could.

"See," he said smugly, "Mine's better!"

With that he gave a triumphant nod and headed out of the room leaving a bemused EJ in his wake. EJ looked at his daughter and grimaced.

"Not really sure what happened there sweetheart," he confessed to her, ruefully, "That conversation kind of got away on Daddy."

EJ considered it for a moment, trying to work out what he'd done wrong.

"I mean the parts of that were correct but the sum of it turned out to be so _very_ wrong," he mused while Ali looked up at him as though she was really interested in what he was saying, "I really wish I could see these things coming a little more clearly with your Great Uncle… that way I'd be able to just leave the room before they happen… or at the very least find a happy place. What do you think sweetheart?"

Ali looked at him, grinned and then promptly sneezed all over him.

"You make an excellent point," said EJ wryly, wiping himself down from the baby spittle and smiling ruefully at his daughter.

**oooOOOOooo**

EJ opened the door to his office an hour later to find Emily Jorgensen standing there.

"Emily," he said happily, kissing her cheek before ushering her inside, "So glad to see you."

"And you dear boy," she said, walking in and sitting on the chair EJ held out for her, "How are you're little ones?"

"They're wonderful, thank you," he smiled, "Ali is much recovered and leading her mother and I on a merry chase just keeping up with her."

"Ah yes," she smiled, "They do have that happy ability of bouncing back from these kinds of things. I remember when my boys were little – never a dull moment."

"That pretty much describes it," said EJ dryly, going round to sit behind his desk, holding onto his tie as he sat down.

"And Samantha?" she asked him.

"She's lovely," he said and then got that goofy kind of smile on his face that the mention of his wife's name always put there, "Absolutely perfect in fact."

"And you my dear boy?" said Emily, her sharp blues eyes missing nothing as she looked at the younger man, "How are you going after all of this?"

"It has been a rough couple of weeks," he admitted to her, "But I have to say Emily, I've never been happier in my life than I am right now."

"So I see," she said softly, seeing the contented look on his face.

"Thank you for being so understanding with my handling of your affairs as well," continued on EJ, "It's been quite maniac of late but I think after today I should have everything back on track. I've drawn up the papers you've asked me to and if you can just read and sign them I can get that all sorted by Monday."

EJ pulled out the papers he'd prepared and passed them to her before going to his coat pocket.

"And this is for you, from Samantha and me," said EJ passing her the white envelope, "Just a little thank you for all of your kindness."

"Some people are easy to be kind to," said Emily, taking the note and smiling down at in her hands, "I'm glad everything has worked out for you and your family EJ."

"It really has," said EJ, his smile widening, "It really has Emily. You see before you a man that wants for nothing right now."

"Well that is rare thing to be sure," she said sagely, giving him a knowing look, "A content man."

"Actually Emily, now that I think about it there is a little something I want," said EJ suddenly with a smile, "I was wondering if you would be able to do me a little favour?"

"Of course my dear," she said happily, placing the white envelope in her bag to read later.

"I just need you to say that this meeting went for a little longer than it strictly did if Samantha happens to ring and ask about it," he told her.

"Hmm," she murmured, leaning back in the chair and regarding him with interest, "Up to no good are we dear boy?"

"Emily," said EJ, feigning hurt, "You're always accusing me of plotting some nefarious scheme."

"Mm," she said a little smugly, "And yet I'm still waiting for a denial I notice."

"You have me all wrong," said EJ, putting his hand to his chest and giving her his most sincere look.

"I do hope not," she said wryly, not buying his outrage for a minute, "I'd hate to think I've put my money on some boring goody goody. I like a little grey in my men."

EJ smiled and arched an amused eyebrow at her, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Emily," said EJ with a teasing smile, "If I were five years older and not married to Samantha I think I'd be falling madly in love with you."

"Sweetheart," she said with an impish look, "If _I_ were five years younger, I'd be letting you."

She regarded him curiously then for a moment.

"So," she said, tilting her head at him and narrowing her eyes, "Do I get to know why you want me to perjure myself to your lovely wife or are you going to keep me guessing?"

"Let's just say I'm planning a little something," said EJ, "And I need a some time to organize things."

"A bit vague," said Emily, not placated, "Nothing illegal I hope dear boy? I do like my attorneys to be on the right side of the law… or at least to have that appearance. Nothing that is going to have police involvement at the end of it at all?"

"I'd love to give you confident no on that Emily," sighed EJ, "But when it comes to Samantha and I, anything could happen."

"So it's something to do with Samantha?" said Emily, latching onto the little clue.

"Emily," smiled EJ, leaning forward in a conspiratorial fashion, "It's _always_ something to do with Samantha, from the very first moment I met her."

Emily smiled at his obvious adoration of his wife, finding it an endearing quality in the complicated man sitting in front of her. She hoped that Sami knew how lucky she was to have this man who loved her so but then Emily suspected that she did.

**oooOOOOooo**

Later that day EJ was dealing with his twins while Sami had a nap.

"You are just a little too rough for you sister right now my little bruiser," said EJ affectionately, walking from the kitchen into the sitting room with Johnny in his arms, "You have to play gently with her."

There had been a minor incident when Ali had crawled after a toy but Johnny decided he wanted it too all of a sudden and tried to go for it as well but he was standing at the time hanging onto a chair and kind of turned and fell on top of his sister. She'd cried, more out of fright then anything else but EJ had instigated a little time out for the two of them.

"You are getting so much bigger than your sister too," EJ continued on with the little man to man chat with his son and it was true.

Johnny had inherited his father's long legs and body and he was almost a full head taller than her now making him look a lot older than Ali all of a sudden.

"So you have to make sure…"

EJ trailed off as he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye in the window that looked out onto the back garden area. He turned his head to see what it was, stared at it for a long moment, looked back at his son and then back out the window. John walked into the room with his newspaper under his arm and headed straight for the Scotch bottle.

"Uncle," said EJ sounding a little taken aback, "There is a _peacock_ in the garden."

"No there isn't," John said flatly, still pouring his drink.

"Yes, _there is_," corrected EJ, "I'm looking at it right now in fact."

"There isn't one," John said and now it was EJ's turn to be corrected, "There is seven."

"Seven!" repeated EJ in amazement, "Why are there _seven peacocks _in our back garden Uncle John?"

"Because you got four for the price of six," his Uncle informed him knowingly, "Bargain."

"But you have _seven_," pointed out EJ, bewildered.

"Yup," agreed John readily.

EJ opened his mouth to argue the logic behind that last statement and then realised that was hardly the issue here.

"Uncle," said EJ, waving the arm that wasn't holding Johnny in an expansive gesture, "_Why_ do you have any at all?!"

"I saw them and I liked them," said John and then gave a knowing nod at EJ, "You haven't even seen the best bit - wait until you see what they do with that tail of their's - it will blow you away."

"I've seen a peacock's tail before," said EJ in exasperation.

"You have?" said John sounding a bit disappointed but then quickly recovered, "So you know what I'm talking about then."

"You don't think it strange that you just went out and bought seven peacocks to put in your back garden for no particular reason other than you like them?" asked EJ still a bit flabbergasted.

"No," said John expressionlessly, "Besides, you can call poor people strange…"

"But when you're rich it's called eccentric," EJ finished the old saying with a roll of his eyes, "I know how that goes."

"I was going to say but I'm rich so I can do whatever the hell I want," shrugged John, "But I guess your way works too."

"You do know that peacocks can be quite loud at night," EJ said with a shake of his head, "They make very loud screeching noises when they get excited."

"Look who's talking," said John with an arch of his eyebrow and EJ grimaced, realising he'd walked right into that one.

"But seven Uncle," EJ tried again, "That's _a lot _of peacocks."

"It's a huge estate," said John unconcerned, "There's plenty of room for them to make their burrows."

"Peacock's roost Uncle John," said EJ evenly, starting to give up now, "In trees usually."

"Even better," said John sounding happy at that.

Sami walked in then with Ali in her arms now.

"I thought you were having a sleep sweetheart?" asked EJ, momentarily distracted from talk of peacocks.

"Tried but it wasn't happening for some reason," she sighed, "Why was Ali alone in the play pen?"

"The twins were getting a bit boisterous with one another," explained EJ calmly, "I thought they might appreciate a little apart time. I was just going to set Johnny up here and then go and bring Ali and the play pen in here so I could still watch them both."

"Oh," said Sami and then smiled down at her daughter, "Was your brother being a bit rough was he sweetie? I guess we're going to have to…"

Sami's attention was suddenly diverted by a flash of colour outside the window.

"Is that a peacock outside the window?" she asked in amazement.

"Apparently it's one of seven," EJ informed her wryly.

"Seven!" exclaimed Sami.

"Why is everyone hung up on there being seven peacocks?" asked John in bemusement, "Would it have made everyone feel better if I'd gotten six… or eight even?"

"The number of birds is only part of the problem Uncle John," EJ tried to explain to him.

"So what are you going to do with a flock of peacocks?" asked Sami in exasperation, trying to work this out.

"Ostentation," EJ said to her, smiling at Johnny as he laughed up at him.

"What?" she frowned distractedly at him.

"Peacocks come in ostentations… or a muster," EJ informed her reliably, swapping Johnny from one hip to the other, "Not in flocks."

"I don't care if they come in sandwiches!" exclaimed Sami in frustration, "Why did you get them at all John? What, you going to train them up to be attack peacocks or something?!"

John's head snapped round at that and his eyes lit up with interest.

"Can you _do_ that?" he asked intrigued and both Sami and EJ could see his mind suddenly racing.

"That probably wasn't the smartest thing you could have said right now Samantha," sighed EJ ruefully.

"Sami," said Marlena, walking out of the kitchen now, "Have you seen my cell phone, I can't remember… "

She trailed off and then looked quizzically at the rest of them.

"…is that a peacock out in the garden?" she asked.

"Yes."

EJ, Sami and John all answered as one.

EJ had a sinking feeling that this was going to be a continuing chore when it came to confirming that there was indeed peacocks in the back garden. Rolf walked in from the hallway then with Marlena's cell phone in his hand.

"I vound it Marlena," he informed her and handed it to her, "It vell down za back of za table."

"Ah… thank you Rolf," said Marlena, still preoccupied with the peacock.

"And before you ask Rolf," EJ pre-empted the other man's question, "Yes that is indeed a peacock in our back yard."

"Ya I know Elvis," said Rolf unfazed, "I vas za vone who unloaded zem from za truck ven zey arrived."

"I'm sorry," said Marlena, trying to catch up, "Why do we have a peacock outside our window and what did you mean by 'them' Rolf, is there more than one?"

"Seven," said EJ and nodded understandingly when he saw her expression, "I know."

"Why did you get seven peacocks John?" asked Marlena perplexed.

"Well first I just liked the look of them," said John and then nodded at Sami, "But your daughter here's given me an idea. Rolf… we have to talk."

"No!" said Sami in horror, "No talking!"

Marlena looked even more confused now and EJ couldn't say he blamed her, he was feeling a little dazed himself. He looked down at Johnny who was wriggling a little in his arms and put him down on the floor where he happily crawled over to the sofa and dragged himself up on it. Holding onto furniture and walking around was his latest trick and EJ had to wonder how much longer it was going to be before he was walking. Ali now suddenly decided that she wanted to go to Grandma and held out her arms to her and Marlena smiled sweetly at the little girl despite her distraction and took her from Sami.

"But I still don't understand why you did this John," she said, resuming her questioning of John while Ali now suddenly decided that she wanted to go to EJ, twisting around in Marlena's arms.

EJ smiled at her antics and shook his head, stroking the top of her head before taking her from Marlena now. It was like pass the parcel with the little girl!

"I don't see what the problem here is," said John blankly, "Blondie - you bought a new dress today, I happened to buy seven peacocks - what's the difference? Except of course that I didn't ask you to zip me up with the peacocks."

EJ turned around with Ali in his arms now and whispered conspiratorially to her.

"Guess that answers that question eh little one?" he said quietly to his daughter, referring to the 'second base' incident and winked at her to which she just giggled.

"Answers what question?" asked Sami with a frown, overhearing him.

"Why I got to see Blondie naked today," said John, completely without guile.

"John!" both Marlena and Sami in horror.

"Mom?" Sami then asked, looking at her mother in a kind of confused concern.

"I'm not discussing this right now," said Marlena, drawing herself up to her full height, "I've got phone calls to make, excuse me please."

Sami frowned at John, unhappy at him for having upset her mother and followed her out of the room.

"I don't think that was the smartest thing to say uncle," said EJ, making a face, "I think you may have upset Marlena somewhat."

"Yeah but at least she's not going on about the peacocks anymore," said John, finding an upside.

"Granted," agreed EJ, rolling his eyes, "That does seem to have slipped her mind right about now but if you're trying to win her over I'm not sure that this is the smartest way to do it Uncle."

"This from the guy that had to be hit by a car to get the girl," said John, unimpressed with his advice.

"That wasn't _exactly_ how it happened Uncle John," said EJ in mild exasperation.

"I know what I'm doing," said John confidently.

One of the peacocks then let out a piercing cry that at least another two answered, the noise quite deafening and EJ winced to hear it.

"Of course you do Uncle John," said EJ sarcastically, "Look how well the peacock thing is working out for you already. You obviously have a complete handle on the situation."

"Damn straight," said John, completely missing the irony in EJ's statement and wandered out into the garden to enjoy his controversial acquisitions.

EJ blew out a breath and looked down at Johnny who was slowly making his way around the room, holding onto the various pieces of furniture as he did. He then looked at Ali who he was still holding.

"If I could only see it coming," said EJ with a sigh, repeating his earlier desire, "If only…"


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter TWENTY-SEVEN**

Sunday morning breakfast at the DiMera mansion was a more extended affair then the usual week day rush and it was nearly ten o'clock in the morning and everyone could still be found in the kitchen chatting back and forth easily. All things considered it was almost what you could call a normal scene.

"I'm glad the Charity Ball went well," commented Sami, trying to tempt Ali with a piece of pear but she was more interested in the dry biscuit that her brother had after already having eaten his piece of fruit.

It seemed like a life time ago now that she'd been organising that when in fact it had only been just over two weeks. Guess that's what happens when you're kidnapped by your ex-husband and separated from one baby and the other one ends up having to have surgery!

"It was very successful," agreed Marlena, "You did a good job sweetheart in helping to organise it all, I'm very proud of you."

"Thanks Mom," smiled Sami, pleased by her mother's praise, "It's a shame that none of us got to go in the end after all that hard work."

"Yup," said John not looking up from the newspaper he had stretched out in front of him, "Can't tell you how disappointed I was about that."

Sami and Marlena sent him disapproving looks while EJ's lips just quirked in a smile.

"Apparently Chris wasn't there either," Marlena continued on as though he hadn't spoken.

"Well that is surprising," said EJ straight faced, "I wonder why that was?"

"Yeah," said Sami giving him a knowing look, "I _wonder_."

"So now that everything has settled down a bit what is happening about the wedding Sami?" asked Marlena, deciding she'd ask her daughter what she meant by that at a later date.

"I don't know Mom," sighed Sami, "There is no way I can get it all organised how I want now after losing all this time."

"Then we'll just chose another date sweetheart," said EJ mildly, "In fact, why don't we make it November 9th, the same date as our actual wedding. Rather fitting in a way don't you think?"

"I guess," said Sami hesitantly.

EJ saw her face and knew immediately what she was thinking.

"I'll still get you two anniversary gifts," he told her with a smile, "And you'll still get double milestone anniversaries."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes brightening to which he just laughed.

"Do you think I'm being materialistic and shallow?" she asked him and pouted, feeling bad all of a sudden about thinking such things.

"I think my wife likes shiny things," laughed EJ, leaning over to give her a quick kiss as she sat beside him, "And I am completely alright with that."

"Yay!" said Sami, clapping her hands together excitedly, "Shiny things!"

"Sami," groaned Marlena in amusement at her daughter's display, "What have I taught you?!"

"Hey Blondie," John chipped in, "You're not opposed to a bit of bling yourself you know."

John nodded at the large rock on her wedding finger and then at the very expensive diamond earrings she was wearing.

"Well, no… that is different," said Marlena, suddenly flustered, "I mean I don't…that isn't why I…"

Marlena trailed off, realising she'd backed herself into somewhat of a corner and looked around at the others in the room who were all regarding her with varying degrees of amusement.

"Does anyone want any more coffee?" she asked, changing the subject abruptly, she really wasn't used to people laughing at her.

They all shook their head no but then Marlena was forced to have another cup just because she was the one who'd brought it up.

"Alright then," said EJ, deciding to help Marlena out and create a distraction, "Time to release you guys back into the wild I suppose."

He picked up first Johnny out of his high chair and then Ali and set them down on the kitchen floor. Johnny promptly crawled over to the chair John was sitting on and hauled himself up on it, clutching at John's leg. John briefly took his eyes off the paper and looked down at his Great Nephew.

"Boy baby," he acknowledged with a brief nod of his head and then returned to his paper.

"You _could_ call him by his name you know," said Sami with a little roll of her eyes.

John had developed this habit of referring to the twins as 'boy baby' and 'girl baby'. Sami couldn't work out if she found it endearing or annoying… kind of like the man himself really.

"I will when he does," said John unapologetically.

Ali decided that what her brother was doing looked like fun and grabbed Sami's chair leg and attempted to haul herself up on it, falling back down on her backside a couple of times as she did.

"Should we be letting her do that?" fretted Sami, still worrying about her daughter's injuries, "She just had her stitches out a couple of days ago."

"I have za two broken ribs and I vas unloading peacockz yezterday," said Rolf stoically, "Za kinder vill be fine Zamantha."

"I guess," said Sami, still not completely convinced.

EJ understood how she felt. He had this continuing urge just to pick up Ali and never let anyone take her out of his arms again so nothing would ever hurt her but that wasn't going to be what was best for Ali. They had to let her get back to a normal life and have the little falls and tumbles that it included. He hadn't completely discarded the bubble idea though, it was still a definite option. EJ particularly liked the thought of it when she wanted to start dating. A shudder ran through his body at even the thought of some pimpled youth wanting to date his precious girl. He was _not_ looking forward to that.

"So are you going to get them chipped?" asked John suddenly.

"What?" asked Sami in confusion, "What do you mean John?"

"You know," said John, "Where you get them micro chipped so you can find them if they go missing again. Maybe you wouldn't worry so much then."

"That's for dogs and cats Uncle John," said EJ in exasperation.

"But aren't kids more important then pets?" asked John in confusion, "Why micro chip your pets but not your kids? Makes no sense."

"You can't micro chip children," said Sami flabbergasted, "It's not right!"

"Why?" asked John in consternation.

"Well first of all it's a violation of their civil liberties," began EJ and continued on quickly because he could see his uncle was about to object, "And secondly that technology isn't really what you need. You'd need some kind of tracking device to be embedded to be able to find them if they went missing. The micro chipping they do with animals is just so when you do find them, you know who they belong to."

"Rolf," said John, ever the problem solver.

"Ya?"

"Can you make something that we could put in boy baby and girl baby to find them if they ever went missing again?" asked John, perfectly serious.

"Oh ya," said Rolf with a nod of his head, "I could do zat quite eazily, no problemz at all."

"There you go," said John happily, "Problem solved. We'll get the evil genius here to tag the off spring and you'll never have to worry about losing them again."

"We can't do that John!" said Sami heatedly and then looked a little uncertainly at EJ, "Can we?"

"Of course not," said EJ although he had to admit it was a tempting thought after the hell of the last two weeks, "I mean it would be unlawful for one thing."

"So don't tell people," shrugged John, "You're making this way harder than it has to be you know."

Sami and EJ exchanged glances both thinking the same thing - could they actually do this?

"It would be morally and ethically bankrupt of us to even consider such a thing Uncle," said EJ not quite as firmly as he had before, "Right Samantha?"

Sami looked over at him and gave him an undecided look.

"Oh yes, absolutely," she said but sounded anything but sure.

"Suit yourselves," said John going back to his paper, "But don't ever say I didn't try to get your kids something nice."

"I don't know if an implant in the ass can be considered 'nice' John," said Sami wryly.

"Well if you misplace your kids again don't come crying to me," said John expressionlessly, "You're on your own."

Sami and EJ looked at each other uncertainly, really starting to think about this now. The thought of being able to find Ali and Johnny again instantly was a pretty big temptation… after all, they were only babies right? What would they know and they could take the implants out when they were adults right? No harm done?

"You can't implant your children with tracking devices," said Marlena calmly, ever the voice of reason as she saw how EJ and Sami were looking at each other.

"Of course not," sighed EJ a bit despondently now.

"We wouldn't Mom," Sami reassured her but shared a quick look with EJ, a 'we'll talk about it later' look.

It was Marlena's turn to sigh now - John was making everyone in this family as crazy as he was. She wondered idly to herself how long before she succumbed to the inevitable pull of insanity that this house seemed to cultivate… and would she have to find a new job when she did?

**oooOOOOooo**

"You look absolutely breath taking," smiled EJ, looking at his wife all dressed up to go out to dinner later on that night, "A vision in fact."

"Why thank you kind sir," she smiled up at him, feeling her cheeks pinken at the way he was looking at her, "You scrub up nice too if I don't mind me saying so."

He looked gorgeous in fact but then, what else was new?!

He was wearing a grey suit that was a particular favourite of hers, he always looked so good in suits. He also looked pretty great out of them and Sami suddenly didn't feel like sharing him with a restaurant full of people tonight, instead wanting him all to herself so she could work on getting him out of that suit and back into bed.

"Ready to go?" he asked her but before she could answer his cell phone rang.

"Sorry," grimaced EJ and dug it out, flipping it open and answering it, "Hello… oh yes Maggie hello…oh of course… no no problem at all… yes thank you for calling, see you soon."

"Problem?" frowned Sami.

"Not really," said EJ, "That was just Maggie to say that they've had a little overbooking problem and that our table won't be ready for another half hour or so."

"Oh," said Sami, "Well that's alright I suppose - what do you want to do while we wait?"

"Why don't we take a turn around the garden," suggested EJ, "It's a lovely night, we may as well enjoy it."

"That sounds nice," smiled Sami.

EJ returned her smile and offered his arm which she took and they walked out through the French doors out onto the patio and started to stroll round the gardens. There was a reasonable amount of moonlight so walking along the little pebbled path was no problem. Sami held onto EJ's arms with both hands, snuggling in closer to him as they walked, feeling happier than she'd ever remembered feeling in her life. It was always like that with him. Life just seemed to be getting better and better with him and she realised to her surprise what this feeling was. For the first time in her life she was content. She wasn't chasing manically after something that she could never have or trying to hold on desperately to something that she had no hope of keeping.

No, Samantha Jean DiMera was at last at peace and the man at her side was the reason for it. She hugged his arm tighter and he smiled down at her and as always the love she saw in his eyes stole her breath. As the rounded the large water feature, complete with urn splashing water back into the water lily covered pond they saw one of John's peacocks sitting on the ledge, surveying his domain.

"What are you doing awake you silly creature?" EJ admonished him as they passed, "You're a bird, you should be fast asleep now."

The peacock gave him a disdainful look at even the suggestion and jumped down from the ledge and started to walk off in the other direction.

"I don't know about these peacocks," said Sami with a shake of her head, "I mean seven of them! It's like a frat house for peacocks! I'm not going to be surprised if we come out one day and find them having a kegger on the lawn. John should have at least gotten a couple of pea hens to even things up a bit."

"But then we would have ended up with more peacocks," EJ reasoned, "So it's probably better that he didn't."

"I still don't understand," said Sami with a roll of her eyes, "Why _peacocks_?"

"I think we should be grateful sweetheart," said EJ practically, "It could have been a lot worse. What if he'd developed a fascination with killer bees or crocodiles or something else further up the food chain."

"Good point honey," agreed Sami stoically, "I suppose it could have been worse."

Sami looked ahead then and squinted.

"EJ," she said, lifting her head off his shoulder, "What's that light up ahead?"

"I don't know darling," he said, "Better check it out I suppose, in this place it could be anything."

EJ and Sami walked a little further, rounding the corner to where the gazebo was located and Sami stopped in her tracks at what she saw.

"Oh EJ!" she gasped, her hand going to her chest in a kind of shocked wonder, "It's beautiful!"

Every available surface of the little wooden framed gazebo had a tea light on it, they were everywhere. They hung from trees, lit a little path into it and were scattered around in softly glowing groups of flickering light. The whole area was luminescent from them. They twinkled brightly, giving an almost other worldly look to the place. Sami looked up at EJ in amazement who was smiling down at her, enjoying her awe.

"EJ," she said wide eyed, "You did all of this?"

EJ smile widened and he took her hand.

"Come on," he said, not answering her directly but gently taking her by the hand and leading her into the gazebo.

Stretched out on the floor of the gazebo was a large rug which was covered in scatter pillows of various sizes and colours. In the centre of the rug a beautiful picnic banquet was laid out. There were all manner of foods on platters, beautifully presented and looking absolutely delicious. An opened bottle of wine sat in a ice bucket and with wine glasses sitting beside it. A huge bouquet of breath takingly gorgeous deep red roses stood in a large vase off to one side and even from where she was standing Sami could smell their heady scent. Their places were exquisitely set with fine bone china that reflected back the light from the many little tea lights littered all around. Sami had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.

"EJ," she gasped again, completely stunned, "This is absolutely gorgeous! How did you… when did you…?"

She couldn't seem to string the words together to form a proper sentence.

"I'm sneaky," he informed her and gave her a mischievous wink.

"Yes you are," she said with a shake of her head, still in shock, "What about that phone call from Maggie? What was that?"

"At the third beep it will be eight fifteen and ten seconds," he informed her with a little laugh.

"Cute," laughed Sami, shaking her head at him, "EJ this is amazing and I love it but why?"

"It occurred to me," said EJ quietly, turning her around to face him, "That I never had the honour of asking the woman that I worship and adore to marry me."

Sami bit her lip, deep emotion welling up inside of her as she watched go down on his knees in front of her. He took one of her hands in his, bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of it softly before covering it with his other hand.

"Samantha," he said, his rich and deep voice washing over her and making her heart flutter helplessly, "I loved you before I knew you. My whole life I have waited for you, looked for you and now that I have found you I can never let you go. You have consumed me utterly with your beauty, your passion and fire. You have changed my life irrevocably from the first moment we met, you have changed me Samantha. You have made me strive to be a better man, you've given me those gorgeous babies asleep in their beds right now and you've taught me what it is to love someone more than yourself. Sweetheart, you have given me so much and all I can offer you in return is my love, my fidelity and the knowledge that I will never leave you or forsake you. You are my first choice in this world, my only choice and I cannot live without you."

Sami's eyes had welled up with sweet tears at his unbelievably beautiful words. They were everything she'd ever wanted to hear and they were being said by the one man who understood her and accepted her just as she was. Sami felt her heart swell in her chest, all of the old wounds of feeling second best and not good enough closing over and healing utterly from the power of this man's love in that split second.

"Oh EJ," she whispered, almost too moved to speak now.

"Marry me gorgeous girl," he said, squeezing her hand tightly now between his as he looked at up her almost pleadingly, "Don't leave me to walk alone in this world because you are the only one for me, I will never love another."

EJ found himself holding his breath waiting for her reply to his heartfelt proposal. His nerves tighten as she didn't answer straight away, seeming to find it difficult to speak all of a sudden. He loved her so much and it was strange to feel so vulnerable considering they were technically already married but that was why he'd wanted to do this. She was the woman of his dreams and he wanted to do things properly with her, albeit a little out of order.

"Marry me Samantha… be my wife," he prompted her almost urgently now.

"Oh EJ," she managed again and then gave a kind of strangled gasp, "No!"

EJ's heart dropped, suddenly very glad that they were already married.

"No?" he repeated painfully.

"NO!" she repeated more loudly and then shook her head, pulling her hand out from his and waving it around wildly, "EJ! Peacock… fire!"

EJ looked over his shoulder to where Sami was pointing desperately and trying to form a coherent sentence seeing the reason for her dismay. The peacock they'd passed on the way to the gazebo - well EJ assumed it was the same one - they were a little hard to tell apart, had come to investigate the lights for himself and as he had his long tail had drifted over several of the tea lights and was now alit.

"Bloody hell!" said EJ in horror.

"Do something EJ!" Sami implored him as the feathers began to really catch fire now, the smell of burning feathers suddenly thick in the air.

EJ leapt to his feet, taking off his coat to try and beat out the fire in the birds tail that way but the peacock saw him coming and didn't like the look of this creature bearing down on him and waving something around his head so it took off the other way. EJ changed course quickly, trying to catch it but he doubled back, heading towards Sami now. Sami looked around wildly for something to help and grabbed the first thing she saw which just happened to be a bottle of wine that EJ had opened before they got there. She picked it up quickly and tried to douse the flames as the bird ran by but it only made them flare up more.

"Alcohol sweetheart," EJ reminded her a bit out of breath as he raced by her in hot pursuit of the bird who was beginning to suspect that something was seriously wrong in his back end section by now and was picking up speed, "Not the best for putting out a fire!"

"Oh right," said Sami pulling a face and looking at the bottle in her hand.

"Sorry!" she called out but EJ was already legging it around the bend chasing down the erstwhile peacock that seemed to be channelling Sea Biscuit the champion sprinting horse all of a sudden.

Sami chased after them after quickly blowing out all of the candles - the last thing they needed right now was a forest fire. She arrived just in time to see EJ throw himself at the bird and rugby tackle it to the ground before struggling back up with the now decidedly unhappy bird in his arms which was scratching wildly and screeching loudly in disapproval at EJ. The birds tail feathers were still on fire, all that running only adding oxygen to the mini blaze and Sami's little contribution of adding fuel to the fire not being exactly helpful.

EJ, ever the man of action just hauled himself upright and walked determinedly over to the water feature with the lily pad covered pond and stepping over the little ledge and into the water, depositing both him and the unimpressed bird into the pond. The bird scrabbled around a bit but that only helped to put out the flames and soon enough the crisis had been averted and the fire was out leaving only smoking feathers in it's wake. EJ dropped the ungrateful creature over the side of the pond and it shook itself off, water and burnt bits of feathers flying everywhere before sending EJ an accusing look and taking itself off rather haughtily into the night.

"You're welcome!" called out EJ sarcastically behind him, looking down at himself and rolling his eyes.

He was standing, in very expensive Italian shoes as it turned out, in pond water that came up halfway up to his knees, the bird having managed with all of its frantic flapping to have gotten the rest of him pretty wet as well. EJ wiped his dripping face with his hand and made a resigned face.

"Oh EJ," said Sami, walking up to him and standing in front of him and covering her mouth with her hands, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Now then," said EJ, soothing back a damp strand of hair and looking at her perfectly calmly, "Where was I… oh yes… that's right."

EJ got back down on his knees, grimacing a little as the cold water moved further up his body and took her hand again.

"Samantha Jean," he tried again, "I love you, I will always love you. From the very first moment until my last, I will love you."

A slow smile spread over Sami's face as all thoughts of soggy peacocks were banished at the sound of his voice.

"Samantha," he said softly, holding her gaze steadily and letting her see all of the love he had for her in his heart, "Would you do me the very great honour of consenting to be my wife?"

Sami opened her mouth to answer him at last but suddenly there was a violent crashing sound and then the sound of a man giving a shocked scream followed quickly by an equally shocked shriek from a peacock. EJ blew out a heavy breath.

"What just happened?" he asked in resignation, seeing Sami looking past him back to the patio area.

"Rolf came out onto the patio and fell over the peacock," Sami said and gave him a semi-apologetic look.

"Is Rolf alright?" asked EJ flatly.

"He's not getting up," Sami informed him and grimaced, "So I don't think so."

"Right," said EJ, pursing his lips and giving up, "Right!"

He hauled himself out of the water and made his way over to Rolf, mentally thinking of all the things you could make with peacock - peacock pies, peacock stew, peacock soup - the thought soothed him somewhat. EJ hurried over to where Rolf was upended in a row of planter boxes, long legs stuck comically up in the air as he struggled to right himself, obviously having difficulties because of his still tender ribs.

"Rolf," said EJ, fighting his way through the pots of topiary, "Are you alright?"

"No," groaned the older man, "Zose zings are vermin!"

"No argument here," said EJ flatly, managing to get along side Rolf, standing in the row of potted shrubs now, "Here."

He offered Rolf his hand but the other man shook his head.

"My ribs," he complained.

EJ sighed and bent down over him.

"Put your arms around my neck," he instructed him.

Rolf complied and EJ put his hands around his waist and lifted him gently up, unwedging him from the shrubs.

"Are you okay Rolf?" asked Sami who had joined them by now.

EJ meanwhile had manoeuvred them out of the potted shrubs and was standing there with Rolf, his arms still around EJ's neck as Rolf tried to find his balance again.

"No," moaned Rolf, "I zink I broke anozer rib."

"What's all this racket?" asked John moodily, joining them out on the patio now, looking at EJ and Rolf standing there, "Elvis, why are you slow dancing with Rolf?"

EJ grimaced and loosened his grip on Rolf now that he was certain he wasn't going to topple over and stepped back from him. John looked around and saw the peacock walk by then.

"… and why is one of my peacocks smouldering?" he continued on.

"I was proposing actually Uncle," said EJ grimly, brushing down bits of greenery from himself, "Or at least attempting to."

"To who?" asked John with an arched eyebrow, "Samantha or Rolf?"

"Me of course!" said Sami hotly.

"Weird," said John, shaking his head, "First you had babies, then you got married, now you're proposing… what's next, you kids going to start dating? And that doesn't explain what happened to my peacocks."

"They are a menace Uncle!" exclaimed EJ.

"It seems like you two are the menace here," John defended his pets, "I don't see them setting fire to things and bashing around in my pot plants!"

"Zis is all very interesting," interjected Rolf weakly, "But I zink I may need to go to za hospital."

He looked over at John and John just looked back at him expressionlessly.

"Uncle John would you please take Rolf to be checked out?" asked EJ in exasperation.

John looked unimpressed and sent Rolf a disgruntled look.

"I think you only do these things to get attention," said John accusingly.

"Zere are eazier vay to get attention zen to break ribs John!" protested Rolf.

"Hmf," said John, unconvinced but he motioned for Rolf to come with him anyway.

Sami and EJ were alone on the patio now. Sami walked up to EJ and picked a stray branch off his shoulder.

"Come inside," she told him, "You'll catch your death out here."

EJ sighed and gave up, walking inside with her, through the sitting room to stand at the bottom of the stairs.

"Well that was quite the proposal," she said, the beginnings of a smile turning up the edges of her mouth.

"It's funny," grimaced EJ, almost musing to himself, "But I seem to recall being a lot better at this romance stuff."

"No," said Sami quickly, "This was perfect."

"Perfect except for having to douse a flaming peacock halfway through my proposal," he finished wryly, "Or having to rescue a felled Austrian scientist/man servant through the other half."

"It was unique," agreed Sami in amusement and then smiled up at him, "Like us I guess - so it was just perfect if you ask me."

"You're not hard to please these days," he told her wryly, pulling out his soaked shirt as it clung to his body and tried to drain a little water off it.

"Well in case you're wondering," she said softly, "The answer is yes."

"Yes?" repeated EJ, his eyes brightening now, "You'll marry me?"

"Absolutely," she told him, biting her lip at how pleased he looked, "How can I not, you're the man I love, the man of my dreams."

Sami found it really touching that EJ seemed so relieved and excited by her acceptance - after all they were actually married already. It wasn't like he should have been worried about her answer but it seemed as though he was kind of overwhelmed and humbled by her saying yes. It was very endearing and made her love him even more if that was possible. He really did treasure her like none other had ever done before in her life.

"Samantha," he said tenderly, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply.

Sami sighed into his mouth and melted into the kiss, only breaking away when oxygen became an issue, both of them breathless and excited.

"So this fiasco didn't put you off the idea?" he asked her with gentle amusement, loosening his hold on her but keeping her in his arms.

"Actually it kind of reminds me of our first date," pondered Sami with a little smile, "Remember EJ? Interrupted dinner plans, weirdo's appearing at the door and making a scene… smoke… water…"

"But we missed out on the good part in between the weirdo and the water," pouted EJ remembering very vividly how they'd managed to make it to his bed before all hell broke lose.

"Hm, we did didn't we?" said Sami, seeming to consider that seriously for a moment, "That's a shame."

She looked up at EJ then and smiled a slow, sexy smile.

"But then again the evening isn't over is it?" she said huskily, "Why don't you come upstairs and we'll get you out of those wet clothes?"

EJ held her gaze and saw the promise that lay behind her blue eyes and felt his blood begin to heat immediately.

"But we didn't get to eat dinner," he protested distractedly, "Aren't you hungry?"

Sami tilted her head to one side and pursed her lips before she went up on her tip toes so she could whisper in his ear.

"Starving," she purred the word.

She dropped back down to the floor and gave him a last sultry before walking past him and heading up the stairs to the second floor. EJ turned around and watched her go, enjoying immensely the sight of her gorgeous backside swaying from side to side as she climbed the stairs.

"Oh yeah," he said, very pleased with himself, "Still got it."

"Are you coming EJ?" Sami called out, now disappeared round the corner of the stairs, "Or do I have to start without you?"

EJ grinned and started to run up the stairs, taking them three at a time.

So what if the evening hadn't gone strictly to plan? So what if instead of a romantic candle lit garden rendezvous designed to woo his wife he'd vandalised a peacock and had ended up with Rolf in his arms rather than Samantha?

None of it mattered because in the end… well in the end he'd gotten the girl… and come what may he was going to hold onto her and never let her go.

_But EJ should have known by now, life is never that simple…_

**AUTHORS NOTE****:**

Now this may be a rather self involved thing to say but I simply _loved_ this chapter for some reason. LOL

I know this may sound a somewhat self promoting but I loved EJ and Sami in this. For me, no one does romance like EJami. At the moment I feel a bit gyped?… gipped?… jipped?… _screwed over _by the lack of romance we're seeing for our favourite couple so I thought I should redress the balance in these fics. I want it all for these guys, the playful, sexy dates, the romantic proposal and the big, over the top wedding. I'm still holding onto the belief that we're going to get it in DOOLs but _when_ is the big question!

So in the meantime, I'm writing what I'd like to see. I think these guys sell romance and comedy really well. I really enjoyed their first date with all the humour but they somehow managed to have it being hot and romantic at the same time - now that's versatility for you. I love that no matter what life throws at them, no matter how absurd, at the end there is still Ejami's love for one another which is what I'm hoping we'll see on our screens soon.

So hopefully you all enjoyed reading this story – I suppose you must not have hated it if you read this far eh? LOL

And just to let you know there is a sequel to this tale and it's called "Wild Horses…" and it's probably the favourite of many of my "Forbidden Love" readers. It's a hundred chapters long so it's a bit epic. It continues to follow the adventures of the DiMera mansion household with more fun and games promised. They are a wonderful group of characters to write for and I enjoy it so much and hopefully you have to. So see you guys at the sequel.

Cheers and thanks for reading. Lou 


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